Kingdom Hearts: Next
by SSBFreak
Summary: The worlds are in danger again, and this time, there's way to many for Sora to handle...Wait, what's Hayner doing with a Keyblade?
1. New Keyblade

Chapter one: New Keyblade

**(Disney Castle)**

Inside the Gummi hanger located just underneath Disney Castle, two small chipmunks waved as a ship flew out of the hanger and out of the castle. Inside this Gummi ship were Donald and Goofy, whom King Mickey was sending to Destiny Islands to pick up Sora.

It had been almost half a year since Sora and Riku dealt the finishing blow to Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII. King Mickey had thought that the worlds would finally be at peace, but recently the good king had found out that the worlds were in danger yet again, and this time it felt like there was even more. Although he wasn't sure if Sora, Donald and Goofy could handle going to this many worlds, King Mickey knew he had to do something fast. Thus, he sent a letter to Sora, telling him to await Donald and Goofy, whom would be coming to pick him up soon.

"Well, there they go." Chip said. "Off on another adventure."

"Say, Chip? You remember the good old days when we went on adventures ourselves?" Dale asked.

"Don't remind me." Chip sighed. "You know that after the Heartless invaded our world, we lost contact with Monty and Gadget. The last thing I need right now is to be reminded about that."

The red-nosed chipmunk looked at the ground. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, Chip."

"Ah, it's okay." Chip assured.

Suddenly, the two best friends heard a loud beeping coming from a nearby computer. Chip and Dale looked at the computer with wonder.

"What the heck is that?" Dale asked. "That computer's never made that noise before."

"Wait…Yeah it has. It's just bee so long since we've heard it." Chip replied.

"Oh, yeah! But the last time we heard that beeping was-"

Dale stopped himself when he suddenly remembered what the beeping was for. Apparently, Chip had realized that same thing, as both chipmunks' eyes were wide open.

"We gotta tell someone about this!" Chip said.

"But who?" Dale asked.

"The professor! He can determine where the radar will point us!"

The two chipmunks promptly scurried out of the Gummi hanger. It took Chip and Dale a while to get to the lab, as it was on the other side of the castle and the two were small enough as it was, and they almost ran into four of the walking brooms, but they finally arrived at the door. Because they were too small to open the door, Chip and Dale had to crawl underneath it to get into the lab.

"Professor! Professor!" Chip called out.

A figure wearing a welding mask looked up from a desk of countless vials and potions to see the two chipmunks running in. The figure lifted the mask, revealing a balding duck with gray hair and glasses.

"Ah, boys!" The duck said with an accent. "Vat brings you here?"

"Professor Von Drake!" Chip said as he and Dale arrived at the professor's side. "The radar in the hanger is going crazy!"

"It hasn't gone off since we located Sora!" Dale added.

"Really? Vell, let's go see, then!" Prof. Von Drake said as he took off his mask.

The two chipmunks led the aging duck, also Donald's uncle, back through the castle and eventually back to the Gummi hanger, where the computer was still giving off a loud beep every second. Prof. Von Drake walked over to the computer and examined it. After a few seconds, he brightened.

"Boys, this is amazing!" The professor exclaimed.

"Why? What is it?" Chip asked.

"This radar has picked up what appears to be a new Keyblade bearer!"

"A NEW Keyblade bearer!" Dale asked. "Who is it?"

**(Twilight Town)**

Seifer collapsed to one knee and dropped the Struggle Bat he was holding. After taking a beating like that, his head was really spinning. He struggled to look up at his opponent. Hayner lowered his bat. "Had enough, Seifer?" He challenged.

"You'd better enjoy your temporary win while you can!" Seifer growled. "I can whoop you sorry behind anytime!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where have I heard THAT before?" Hayner said with a smirk. "That's what you always say."

Seifer didn't bother to make a comeback he simply stood up, turned around and walked away, Rai and Fuu following him like dogs.

After Sora defeated Xemnas and saved the worlds, another Struggle competition arose, where Hayner surprised everyone by defeating Seifer in the final round by a score of 180 to 20. Since then, every time Seifer challenged Hayner, he always lost.

Other than that, nothing really changed that much in Twilight Town. Hayner, Pence and Olette still hung out on a daily basis and Seifer still thought he was better than everyone else, even after Hayner defeats him. The only other thing that happened was that Vivi had recently disappeared. Where he had gone to was anyone's guess, although Seifer never really felt too worried.

"Great job, Hayner!" Pence said as he and Olette came over.

"For some reason, the fights with Seifer don't really seem that hard anymore." Hayner said.

"That just means that you're getting better." Olette said with a smile.

"Yeah…You're right." Hayner nodded.

"Well, let's go." Pence said. "Our parents gave us errands to do and I don't want to disappoint them."

Hayner and Olette nodded as the three friends started walking through the streets of the town to start shopping.

Suddenly, Hayner started to feel a little dizzy. He stopped walking and held his head. His two friends noticed this and stopped. "Hayner? You alright?" Pence asked.

Hayner didn't reply. He simply collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Pence and Olette ran over.

**(Subconscious)**

Hayner opened his eyes, expecting to see Pence and Oletter standing over him with worried expressions. However, that's not what he saw. What he saw instead was a huge void of darkness. He slowly stood up and looked around, wondering where he was.

"H-How do I get out of here?" Hayner asked himself. "Pence! Olette!"

Hayner suddenly noticed that he was standing on something. Looking down, his eyes widened in awe. What he was standing on was a huge mural. On it was a picture of five people. The one in the middle was Sora, brandishing his Keyblade. He noticed that Kairi was at Sora's right, also wielding a Keyblade. At Sora's other side was a tall boy with longer hair (which Hayner guessed was probably this 'Riku' Sora kept talking about) holding a Keyblade of his own. On the far left of the group was Donald and the far right was Goofy, each of them holding their respective weapons. Going around the entire mural were thirteen circles, each one containing the head and shoulders of someone in a black hood.

"Well, so YOU'RE the new chosen one?"

Hayner looked up in surprise and looked around for the owner of the voice. He suddenly saw a short figure in a black cloak standing at the edge of the mural, his face covered by the cloak's hood.

"Hey! You're from this 'Organization XIII', aren't you?" Hayner asked.

"Nope. Can't say that I am." The mysterious figure shrugged. He then pointed at Hayner's right hand.

Curiously, Hayner looked at his hand and stepped back in surprise. He saw that he was holding a silver weapon that looked remarkably like a real key. He long blade of the weapon had several jagged marks in it, making it look like a key that much more.

"A…Keyblade?" Hayner asked.

"Of course." The mysterious person said. "You should consider yourself extremely lucky. Not everyone has a chance to be the wielder of a powerful weapon such as a Keyblade."

Hayner didn't respond. He simply looked at his new weapon in awe.

The mysterious man chuckled. "Look, this is probably too much for you to handle all at once, so why don't you just sleep on it, okay?" He suggested. "Hey, you take care of yourself. I'll be seeing you soon enough."

Before Hayner got a chance to respond, everything went white.

**(Twilight Town)**

"Hey! He's waking up!" Were the first words Hayner heard. They had come from Pence.

"That's a relief." Olette sighed. "I was afraid I'd have to do CPR."

"I'm sure he'd LOVE that." Pence joked.

Olette's response was to slug the chunkier boy in the arm, although Hayner couldn't see, as everything was a blur.

"Gah. Man, what happened?" Hayner asked as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"You just collapsed to the ground!" Olette replied. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." Hayner said. "Don't know how that happened there."

"Well, let's keep going." Pence said. "We've got those errands to take care of."

The rest of the day went by casually for Hayner. Even though he, Pence and Olette completed the errands their parents had sent them to do, Hayner's main thoughts were directed at the strange dream he had while he was unconscious. He would occasionally glance down at his hand, as if expecting the Keyblade to be there. He still wondered what everything that had happened in the strange dream meant.

**(Disney Castle)**

"Another Keyblade bearer?" King Mickey asked from his throne.

Prof. Von Drake nodded. "That's right, your majesty." He took the time to pat Chip and Dale on their heads. "These two little geniuses here discovered on their radar a HUGE energy reading."

"The computer they have in the Gummi hanger?" Queen Minnie asked from the throne beside Mickey. "Didn't you design that thing to locate high sources of energy found in Keyblades?"

Von Drake nodded. "Again, correct. The reading isn't as strong as it was when we first located Sora, but it's still pretty strong."

"Well, this could prove to be extremely helpful, then." King Mickey nodded. "If we can get this new Keyblade bearer's help, Sora and the others won't be put through so much work."

"Oh, Mickey! That's a splendid idea!" Queen Minnie said. Her smile then faded. "But this bearer will most likely need help, and we can't send Donald and Goofy."

"I aware of that, Minnie." Mickey nodded. "And I know just the people to send."

**(Twilight Town)**

Early the next day, Hayner yawned as he slowly woke up. He scratched his head, stood up and stretched before sighing. "I hate Mondays." He lamented as he turned his alarm clock off.

Hayner knew that school wouldn't wait for anyone, and reluctantly got dressed. After getting ready, Hayner grabbed his books and left his house, where Pence and Olette were waiting outside.

Pence gave off a chuckle. "Took you long enough."

"Hardy har har." Hayner mocked.

"Well, school starts soon, so we'd better hurry." Olette said as the three friends started walking.

"Man. I can't believe that the weekend's already gone." Hayner complained.

"I guess it just seems so much shorter compared to summer vacation." Pence shrugged.

"You know what I think?" Olette asked. "I think that-"

The three friends were cut off when they heard many loud screams coming from the Sandlot. But they didn't sound like screams of excitement like they were used to hearing.

Hayner was the first to react, turning in place and staring suspiciously down at the Sandlot. His two friends followed suit.

"Those screams…" Hayner said suspiciously.

"Those sound like…Screams of terror…" Olette said, her eyes widening.

"We'd better go check it out." Pence suggested. "Something's up."

Although hesitant, the three friends raced towards the Sandlot, wondering what was up. However, when they finally arrived, they looked around in shock.

Several of the town residents, including Seifer, Rai and Fuu, were fighting against a swarm of black creatures. Hayner figured that these were the Heartless that Sora talked about.

What surprised Hayner the most is the number of people fighting with Struggle bats. There were very few other weapons being used other that people like Rai and Fuu attacking with their hands.

"I need to help them!" Hayner said, looking around for a weapon. Not finding any spare

Struggle bats around, Hayner clenched his right hand and wished that he had some sort of weapon.

Suddenly, Hayner heard a strange noise, followed directly by Pence and Olette gasping. Suddenly feeling himself holding onto something, Hayner looked at his hand and almost jumped in surprise. In his hand was the same Keyblade from his dream.

"A…A Keyblade?" Olette asked. "But…How?"

"I'm not sure, but I've got a weapon now!" Hayner said. "Now I can get rid of these things!"

With that, Hayner ran into battle as Pence and Olette watched from the sidelines. Hayner's first action was to take out a couple of Shadow Heartless surrounding Seifer. Seeing Hayner helping him, Seifer sneered. "I could have taken them, you know."

"Your welcome, you ungrateful…" Hayner said, not bothering to finish his sentence.

"Where'd you get that?" Seifer asked, pointing at Hayner's Keyblade.

"I…Don't know. It just appeared in my hand." Hayner said. "Look, as much as I'd LOVE to continue talking to someone like you, I have better things to do. Like defeat these things and save the people."

Hayner ran further into the battle and destroyed several more Heartless with just a few swings of his new Keyblade.

"Man! Sora has it SO good! This is awesome!" Hayner said, surprised at the amount of fun he was having.

As Hayner continued fighting off the Heartless with his Keyblade, Rai slammed his oversized fist into the face of another Heartless, destroying it. He then grabbed another one, spun around a couple of times and threw it into several more, destroying them all.

Rai was known to be one of the stronger people in the town, despite his simple-minded nature. Because of this, he was one of the few that wasn't using a weapon to fight, relying solely on his fists to get the job done.

"Heh! These things are easy to beat, y'know!" Rai said. "Isn't that right, Fuu?"

Rai turned around to see what Fuu thought and his eyes widened. Fuu was fighting off several Heartless easily, but she wasn't aware of a separate Heartless, a Neo Shadow, sneaking up behind her.

Knowing that there was no way for Fuu to avoid it, Rai did something either very brave or very stupid: He ran directly and Fuu.

"Fuu! LOOK OUT!" Rai said, shoving Fuu out of the way just as the Neo Shadow swung its claws. Unfortunately, Rai was now standing in Fuu's place.

Fuu landed on her side and looked in Rai's direction. Her eyes snapped open when she saw the Neo Shadow, the one that would have attacked her, diggings its claws into Rai's chest. Fuu could only watch it terror as a pink heart rose from within Rai's body and floated into the air, vanishing from sight. Its job done, the Neo Shadow let go of the tall youth's body as Rai fell flat on his back, unmoving.

"RAI!" Fuu screamed as she jumped to her feet and rushed to Rai's side. On her way over, she clobbered the Neo Shadow responsible in the face, destroying it instantly. By the time she had arrived at Rai's side, his body was already vanishing. "NO!"

As much as Fuu tried to prevent it, there was nothing she could do. Rai's body vanished, and in his place appeared a Solder Heartless.

During her life, Fuu never cried that much. She had always shown everyone how tough she was by not letting her emotions get the best of her. But now that Rai, whom had sacrificed himself to save her, had been turned into one of these…These…These _things_, Fuu was quickly reduced to tears, sobbing loudly and openly.

Fuu could have stood up and destroyed the rest of the Heartless out of rage, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She refused to leave Rai's side, even though he was now a Heartless. And the strangest thing? Rai's Heartless wasn't attacking like the others did. It was almost as if it didn't want to attack Fuu.

Hayner, whom had seen this happen, was only too glad to do what Fuu couldn't: Destroy the rest of the Heartless out of rage.

Within a matter of minutes, the remaining Heartless were destroyed. The only one left standing was Rai's, and Fuu refused to let anyone attack it.

"What WERE those things?" A man with a Struggle bat asked.

"Heartless." Hayner explained, getting out of his stance. "Did we lose anyone?"

The man counted heads. "Just that Rai fellow. Poor kid. He was just protecting his friend."

Hayner sighed. "I wish there was a way to bring him back."

"Maybe there is. We just don't know it, yet."

"HAYNER!"

Hayner spun around in the direction of the voice and saw Pence and Olette sinking into a puddle of darkness. Without thinking of the consequences, Hayner rushed over to aid them.

By the time he arrived at the puddle, Pence had already gone under. Hayner dove at the puddle, landed beside it and grasped Olette's hand, trying to pull her out.

Unfortunately, the force from the puddle was too strong, and Hayner felt himself getting dragged towards it as well.

Tears started rolling down Olette's face, realizing that she was pulling Hayner in with her. "I'm sorry, Hayner." She apologized before her head vanished beneath the puddle.

There was nothing Hayner could do to prevent himself from getting pulled in after Olette. Hayner fell through the puddle headfirst, and once his feet had gone under, the puddle of darkness closed up completely.

**(Disney Castle)**

"So do you two understand your mission?" Mickey asked the two figures he had summoned.

The first figure scratched his head. "I think so. You want us to go find this new Keyblade bearer and help him save the worlds."

Mickey nodded. "That's right. Donald and Goofy have already gone to help Sora, but I need you two to focus on helping this new guy."

The second figure raised her hand. "Uh…Your majesty?"

"Yes?"

"I can understand why you're sending him." The figure pointed at the first. "He's Goofy's second-in-command, after all. But why are you sending ME? I'm just the castle librarian!"

"I can answer that." Queen Minnie replied. "You may be the librarian, but I've seen you study those books on magic extremely closely. You may not be as experienced as Donald, but your skills in magic are absolutely nothing to be ashamed of." She smiled at the second figure. "To aid you, I'm allowing you to take the biggest and most powerful book on magic that we have."

The second figure bowed. "Thank you, your majesty. I-I'll try my hardest not to let you down."

"So…Where're we headin'?" The first figure asked.

"According to recent updates on the radar, the new Keyblade bearer is on a one-way trip to Radiant Garden." King Mickey explained. "You're to take a Gummi ship there to meet up with him. Good luck to the both of you."

The two figures stood at attention. "Thank you, your majesty!" They said as one.

With that, the two turned around and walked off, starting their trek towards the Gummi hanger.

"You think they'll be able to do this, Mickey?" Minnie asked once the two newcomers had left the Audience Chamber.

Mickey nodded. "I am extremely confident in their abilities, Minnie. I know for a fact that they won't let me down."


	2. Forming the Team

Chapter two: Forming the Team

**(Radiant Garden)**

In Radient Garden's Bailey, Leon took a couple of swings with his Gunblade at imaginary opponents. Just like at Traverse Town, Leon spent a lot of time training for battles against the Heartless. Now he had to train extra hard now that Nobodies had appeared as well.

Even still, the Heartless and Nobodies had decreased significantly since Sora and company had defeated Organization XIII. Leon, Yuffie and Cloud usually had no problems taking out the minor threats that came before them. It seemed that the closer the team got to restoring Radiant Garden to its original state, the fewer enemies spawned.

Life for the team had almost returned to normal. Leon, Yuffie and Cloud were still protecting the town, fighting off Heartless and Nobodies, but Cloud seemed to be more interested in preparing himself for his battle with Sephiroth. Aerith and Cid continued to work behind the scenes, getting original blueprints for the town from Ansem's computer, where Tron still resided and provided useful information about the town whenever he could. Merlin still allowed the team to use his house, although Cid and his computer still got on his nerves a lot of the time. Even the three fairies were still hanging around, although they were more the less causing mischief.

Leon sighed and continued to train. It seemed like this was becoming more and more routine with each passing day. He almost wished something would come up.

"Hey, Squall!"

Leon paused and looked over his shoulder at the ninja that was standing at the doorway. "It's Leon." He replied in his usual manner. "What is it, Yuffie?"

"Well, someone just appeared at Merlin's house." Yuffie replied with a shrug. "Cid sent me to get you because he thought you might be interested."

Leon shrugged and turned around to face Yuffie. "So someone showed up at Merlin's door. Big freaking deal." He replied.

Yuffie shook her head. "Not at the door. He flew out of a portal on the wall."

Now Leon was interested. "Come again?"

"A portal appeared on the side of the wall and he shot out of it." Yuffie explained. "The portal vanished as quickly as it appeared."

"Well, we'd better take a look then. Where is he?"

"He hasn't woken up yet, so he's still at Merlin's." Yuffie replied as she turned around. "Race you there, Squall!" She said with a wink before racing off.

Leon growled. "It's LEON!" He shouted as he ran out after her.

The tall man chased after Yuffie all the way back to Merlin's house. However, he couldn't beat Yuffie to the front door, and once she was inside, she playfully slammed the door behind her.

Squall sighed and opened the door '_She is just so childish sometimes._' Leon thought as he walked into the house.

"I'm here. So where IS this guy?" Leon asked.

"Over here." Aerith replied as she, Cid and Merlin stood over the motionless body of a boy that looked around Sora's age.

"I wonder what brought the little guy here." Cid mused.

"Well, I suppose we'd best wait for him to wake up." Merlin replied. "That way, he'll be able to answer the questions himself."

**(Soon)**

Hayner groaned as he slowly came to his senses. Things were a little fuzzy, but Hayner could tell that he was inside somewhere.

"Hey, look! He's waking up!"

Hayner, surprised at the unfamiliar voice, shot into a sitting position as his vision became a lot clearer. He saw that he was inside a house, several people scattered around.

"Way to go, Yuffie." A brown-haired man said from a corner of the room. "You almost gave the kid a heart attack."

"Man…" Hayner said, holding his head. "Where…Where am I?"

"Radiant Garden." The brown-haired man said, walking over. "A portal appeared on the side of the wall and you shot out of it."

"R-Really?" Hayner asked, standing to his feet. He suddenly paused. "Wait. Did you say 'Radiant Garden'? You must be the group of friends Sora told me about!"

"You know Sora?" A woman in a pink dress asked.

"Yeah. He came by my town, Twilight Town, a few times." Hayner replied. He cast his gaze towards the brown-haired man. "Let's see…Tall, moody, carries a sword that looks like a gun…You must be Leon!"

Leon grunted at how Hayner had just described him, but nodded.

"I'm Yuffie!" A young girl said.

"Wait. Yuffie?" Hayner asked. "You mean to tell me that YOU'RE the person that runs around everywhere, screaming that she's a 'master ninja'?"

Leon suddenly let out a very rare chuckle. Yuffie glared at him and stuck out her tongue.

"I'm Aerith." The girl in the pink dress said. "This is Cid and that's Merlin over there. Who might you be."

"I'm Hayner." Realization suddenly dawned upon Hayner. "Wait! Did two others kids come out of that portal with me?"

"Two others? No, you were the only one, kid." Cid replied.

Hayner slumped forward. "Well, this is just great. Pence and Olette are out there somewhere and I have no idea where."

"Wait, before you continue, you'd better tell us what you know." Leon said. "How did you end up in that portal, anyway?"

"Well, long story short, Heartless invaded my town and I helped take them out. I turn around and see my friends getting sucked into a puddle of darkness. I rush to help them but I get pulled under as well. The next thing I know, I end up here, and my friends are apparently still missing." Hayner explained.

"You fought off Heartless?" Yuffie asked.

"Wasn't that hard. Most of the people fought with Struggle Bats. However, for some odd reason, this appeared in my hand before I went to fight." Hayner replied as he held out his right hand and concentrated.

Then, much to everyone's surprise, a key-shaped blade appeared in Hayner's hand.

"A Keyblade!" Leon stepped forward. "How'd you get it?"

"I don't know! It just appeared in my hand before I fought the Heartless!" Hayner insisted.

"What about your friends? There must have been SOME reason why they were kidnapped." Merlin asked. "You don't have any enemies, do you?"

"I've never been outside of my town before!" Hayner replied. "I can't think of anyone that would do such a thing!"

"Well, there HAS to be a reason somewhere here." Leon said. "The puddles of darkness don't appear for no reason."

"Yeah, but we don't know what that reason IS, Leon." Yuffie said.

"It's Squall!" Leon snapped before realizing his error. "Er…Uh…I mean…Gah! Darn it, Yuffie!" Yuffie giggled.

Hayner wisely chose to ignore the two. "Well, do you guys have any ways for me to find my friends?"

"Sorry, but no." Aerith sighed. "If you had come earlier, you could have hitched a ride with Sora, Donald and Goofy. They left about ten minutes before you appeared."

Suddenly, everyone heard a knock at the door. Cid curiously went over and opened the door, revealing two tall and thin figures: a horse and a cow. The horse was dressed in a blue shirt with a red vest, and had a pair of jeans with a hole cut out in the back for his tail. He held a spear in his left hand and wore a brown derby on his head, and it looked like he had it for years, as it didn't look like it was in the best of shape. The cow was wearing a white shirt with a red jacket overtop of it, and had a matching red skirt that went down to her knees. A small pair of glasses rested on her nose and she held a large book in her hand.

"You wouldn't happen to know if there's a fella with a Keyblade hangin' around here, would'ya?" The horse asked in a Southern accent.

"Why? Who are you guys?" Cid asked.

"We're here by order of King Mickey." The cow replied for her partner.

Cid was about to question this when the cow held up a note with the king's seal on it. The blonde engineer nodded and allowed the two entry.

The horse suddenly spotted the Keybade in Hayner's hand. "Look! That boy's got the Keyblade!"

The two newcomers quickly rushed over to Hayner. "Bearer of the new Keyblade, we have orders from the king to accompany you on your quest!" The horse said as he stood at attention.

"Quest? What quest?" Hayner asked.

"You mean you don't know?" The cow asked. "The worlds are in danger again, and this time there's probably twice as many as there were when it was just Sora fighting the Heartless."

"We thought that since you were the wielder of the Keyblade, you would have known this." The horse added, relaxing his stance a bit.

"No. I've only had this Keyblade for a couple hours at most." Hayner scratched his head. "And besides, I can't just go on a quest. I've got two friends out there somewhere and I have no idea if they're even still alive!"

"Well, maybe we can help you out with that." The horse suggested. "If your friends aren't on this world, they must be on another world."

"And something tells us that you don't have a form of transportation." The cow added.

Hayner looked at the ground. "No. I don't." He looked at the newcomers. "So you're saying that if I go with you, I'll find my friends?"

"Well, the chances of finding them would be better than if you stayed here." The horse chuckled.

Hayner looked at his Keyblade. "But…I have no idea how to use this thing."

"Don't worry about it." Leon assured. "Sora was just the same when he first got his Keyblade. He learnt everything about his weapon almost completely on his own."

"I say do it, Hayner." Aerith said. "The worlds really need help right now, and Sora wn't be able to save them ALL."

The young boy paused in thought for a few seconds before looking at the horse and cow, nodding. "Okay. I'll help you guys save the worlds."

"Wonderful!" The cow said excitedly. "Now that there's TWO Keyblade bearers saving the worlds, it will take less time to finish everything and restore it all to normal!"

"Well, if we're going to be travelling together, we may as well get to know each other." Hayner said with a smile. "I'm Hayner."

"Horace Horsecollar." The horse said, lifting his hat slightly.

"And I'm Clarabelle Cow." The cow added.

"It's great to meet you both." Hayner nodded. "Well, where are we going first?"

"Can I offer a suggestion?" Leon asked.

"Like what?"

"Well, before coming here, we were stationed in a place called Traverse Town. Since the Heartless still hang around there, we left the town in the capable hands of five people."

"Well, six now. I heard that they got a new recruit lately." Cid pointed out.

"Whatever. Look, you guys can head there to start. I'll notify the team there and let them know you're coming." Leon continued. "From there, you guys can go on to other worlds."

"Thanks, Leon." Hayner said. "We'll do that."

"Well, we'd better start, then." Horace said. "Come on, Hayner. Our Gummi ship is double-parked."

"Got it, Horace." Hayner nodded.

"Hayner, wait." Aerith said.

"Yes?"

"I hope you find your friends." Aerith replied.

Hayner managed a smirk. "Thanks. I hope so, too."

**(Unknown Location)**

In a dark room at an unknown location, several figures stood around a blue orb, which was displaying the Gummi ship containing Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle taking off.

"I don't like this." One of the figures said with a slight rasp in his voice. "And here I was thinking our job would be easy."

"So the kid's got a weapon that looks like a key." A duck-like figure grunted. "So what?"

"That's a KEYBLADE, you idiot." A figure with a flaming head (gee, I wonder who THIS could be) stated. "I've had to deal with one of those things TWICE, and failed both times."

"So?" The duck said slyly. "That's YOU. I could take this punk easily."

"Don't be so confident, my friend." A voice with a slight accent said from somewhere in the room. "I too have faced the Keyblade bearer before and have also failed."

"Again, I'm not surprised."

"I should kill you where you stand, shrimp!" The figure with the flaming head threatened.

"Both of you shut up!" A new figure, one with an unusual shape and somewhat mechanical voice, shouted. "We should be more focused on the task at hand rather than fighting amongst each other!"

"Everyone, can it for a second!" The leader, whom had also stayed quiet the entire time, shouted. Once the room went quiet, the leader continued. "Look, if we want to pull this off, we need to eliminate this Keyblade bearer."

"Easier said than done." The man with the rasp said, folding his arms. "If this one is anywhere near as good as the other kid is, we're in serious trouble."

"Ah, but we DO have a slight advantage." The leader pointed out. "What we have going for us is that this kid hasn't has his Keyblade for very long. If we can get him before he gets skilled enough, we'll have no problem."

"But even still, our numbers are small." The disembodied voice said. "We'll need to get some more help."

"Surely we can find some weak-hearted fools to prey on." The duck chuckled.

"And I know of at least ONE bounty hunter that would be willing to work for a price." The strange-shaped figure continued.

"Okay. That's a start." The leader said with a nod. "Okay, everyone. Leave my presence and return to your missions so that I can commence my maniacal laughter."

The men nodded and left the room, leaving the leader to laugh like a severe madman.


	3. Landing in Traverse

Chapter three: Landing in Traverse

**(Space)**

During the ride to this 'Traverse Town' he had been told about, Hayner kept thinking about the events that had happened. Everything from Rai becoming a Heartless to Pence and Olette getting kidnapped. And now, Hayner found himself going on a quest to save all of these different worlds using the Keyblade he never even asked for.

Now, Hayner had always wanted to see other worlds, so that part of the adventure he wouldn't mind. The thing he DID mind was that he always pictured himself going with his friends. Hayner knew that Pence and Olette were in danger, and needed help immediately, but the only thing he could do at the moment was hope that he would find them during this adventure.

Suddenly remembering that he had been quiet the entire trip, Hayner brought himself out of his thoughts and decided to start a conversation with his travel partners. "So…You guys work for the king, eh?"

Horace nodded. "Yep. While Goofy was out helping Sora, I was put in charge of defending the castle."

"So who's in charge now that you're both gone?" Hayner asked.

"Goofy's son, Max." Clarabelle replied for Horace. "He may be young, but he's showing an extreme amount of promise."

"Always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, huh?" Hayner said with a chuckle.

"Well, to be honest, he didn't really start out that way." Horace rubbed the back of his head. "The thing that got Max going was him hearing that his father had gone on an adventure to help save all of the worlds with the Keyblade bearer."

"Sora's first adventure?" Hayner asked.

"Right again." Horace replied. "Since then, he's been training like there was no tomorrow so that one day, he might be able to help save the worlds as well."

"Hopefully, he'll be able to make it one day." Hayner said.

Eventually, the Gummi ship approached a world. Thanks to a Gummi feature on the dashboard, they were able to see a close-up of what was on the world rather than the full planet. What they saw was a small town at night. People were walking around peacefully and there weren't any Heartless or Nobodies in sight. The most distinctive feature of this world was the tall bell tower in the middle.

"There it is." Horace said as he steered the ship towards the oncoming world. "Traverse Town."

"So who's this team we're supposed to be meeting?" Hayner looked at Clarabelle.

The cow stroked her chin in thought. "You know? I don't know. I've known there was a team there to help with the Heartless and Nobodies, but I've never found out what their names were."

"Well, we're gonna find out." Horace said as he flew the Gummi ship down towards the world below.

**(Traverse Town)**

Hayner pushed open the front gates of Traverse Town and walked into the First District, Horace and Clarabelle right behind him.

Hayner looked around curiously at the surprisingly peaceful state the town was in. "I thought this place had a Heartless problem." He said, scratching his head.

"It does." Horace said. "Thanks to a special security feature Leon's team built while they were here, the First District is protected and Heartless are unable to come in."

"Hmm…That's pretty clever." Hayner said. "So why didn't they do that for the rest of the tow as well? Wouldn't that eliminate the Heartless threat altogether?"

"Indeed it would, but the king said Leon and the others left here before they could finish." Clarabelle replied. "Building something like that takes a lot of time. The current team is working on more features to hopefully secure the rest of the town."

"So where are we going to find them?" Hayner asked, looking around.

"We'll find them eventually." Horace assured. "We just need to look."

Walking to the end of the First District, Hayner and his new friends found themselves walking into the Second District, which looked much wider and spread out than the first.

Coming into the Second District, Hayner instantly saw the tall bell tower at the edge. He looked up at the tower in awe, completely unaware that Horace and Clarabelle were unknowingly walking off without him. Hayner quickly saw he was getting left behind and rushed over to catch up.

As the team was walking across the path alongside of what looked like a hotel, Hayner glanced to his right and spotted something that made him freeze in his place. In the area below, close to an alleyway, Hayner saw several Soldier Heartless, a few Shadows and a Large Body Heartless swarming around the unconscious form of a young man with long hair.

"Horace! Clarabelle!" Hayner said, summoning his Keyblade.

The horse and cow looked at the Heartless swarming the young man. "We should help him!" Horace said, getting his spear ready for attack.

"Well…Okay." Clarabelle, feeling nervous about her first fight, said uneasily. She opened the large book of magic in her hand.

"Come on!" Hayner said as he leapt off the ledge and landed on the ground about five feet below. Horace and Clarabelle followed suit.

With that, the three advanced together, rushing at the Heatless. The enemies saw them coming and quickly left the young man's side to start attacking. One Soldier made a stupid mistake of rushing at Horace. One swing from the horse's spear and the Heartless was destroyed on the spot.

Deciding to leave Horace and Clarabelle to the Shadows and Soldiers, Hayner instantly ran at the Large Body, which stepped forward. The large Heartless swing its fist, but Hayner managed to block the attack with his Keyblade. Hayner tried attacking the Large Body head-on, but his weapon simply bounced off its large and round belly. Hayner, confused, took a couple more swings, but those attacks were just as pointless.

"_Let's see." _Hayner thought. _"I can't attack the stomach and it's wearing a helmet, so I probably can't attack the head."_

The Large Body took another swing, but Hayner dodged the attack and, deciding to try something, rushed around the Heartless and swung at its back. The large Heartless stepped forward in pain as Hayner smirked.

"Perfect." He said.

The Shadows took several swings at Clarabelle, but the cow was hysterically dodging each of the attacks. As she dodged the Heartless, Clarabelle quickly flipped through the book in her hand until she found what she was looking for.

Clarabelle dodged one more slash from a Shadow before raising her hand into the air. "THUNDER!" She screamed, sounding terrified at the same time.

Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky and struck each of the Shadows (and a few of the Soldiers). The Shadows were wiped out instantly as the Soldiers that were hit fell over.

Horace, having received more training than Clarabelle, was having an easier time fighting off the Heartless attacking him. Horace swung his spear like a bat, striking three of the Soldiers at once. The Heartless flew backwards, and a couple of them vanished from sight completely.

"This ain't so tough!" Horace shouted as he killed another Heartless. "Why don't you Heartless actually TRY to hurt me?"

A couple Soldiers sneaked up on Horace from behind and jumped at him. The horse proved to be quicker than he looked, as he spun in place and swung his spear again, destroying the Heartless at once.

As soon as he saw that he was in the clear, Horace looked at Clarabelle and saw her resorting to beating the Soldier Heartless with the gigantic book she was carrying, having no time to search for a half-decent spell. Renewing his grip on his spear, Horace ran forward and stabbed forward, destroying one of the Heartless.

The Large Body swung at Hayner again, but it proved to be ineffective yet again. Hayner dodged the attack, ran around his opponent and delivered three hard strikes to the Large Body's back. The third one was so powerful that it sent the Heartless into the air.

The huge Heartless landed on its back, but quickly jumped up. Hayner suddenly saw a bright purple aura surrounding the Heartless as it turned around to face him.

The Large Body took two steps forward and dove headfirst at Hayner, sliding on its belly. Hayner, not expecting this was plowed into and sent flying into the air. Hayner landed on his back and quickly got to his feet. He noticed the Large Body sliding around the area for a bit before turning around and coming at him again.

Prepared this time, Hayner lifted the Keyblade again and allowed the Large Body to slide into it. Once he felt a little resistance, Hayner pushed forward, sending the Large Body spinning into the air. Hayner wound up and prepared for the Large Body to hit the ground.

The instant the large Heartless touched the concrete ground, Hayner lunged forward, slashing wildly. This was too much for the huge enemy to handle, as it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Hayner looked around to see if there were any more Heartless left that needed to be destroyed. Seeing that Horace and Clarabelle had disposed of the rest of the enemies, Hayner made his Keyblade vanish, turned to the fallen man and got down to help him up.

"Hey. You alright, mister?" Hayner asked as he helped the man to his feet.

"Ugh…Yeah." The man replied. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Say, you just saved my life." The man said as Horace and Clarabelle came over. "Is there any way I can make it up to you at all?"

"Well, you think you might know if there's some sort of team here that helps with the Heartless problem?" Hayner asked. "We're supposed to meet up with them."

The man was silent for a few seconds. "Wait a minute. YOU'RE the new Keyblade bearer?"

"Yep." Hayner nodded as he summoned the Keyblade for a couple of seconds before making it vanish again. "Wait. So that means that you're in this team?"

It was the man's turn to nod. "Yeah. Leon contacted us and told us you were coming. I was on my way to the First District to meet you when those Heartless attacked me."

"So you guys have a base of operations here, then?" Horace asked, looking around.

The man nodded. "It's in the Third District. I'll take you there."

"Thanks." Hayner said. "I'm Hayner."

"I'm Horace."

"And I'm Clarabelle."

"Edgar." The man said, brushing a few strands of his long hair out of his eyes. "Edgar Figaro."

"Pleased to meet you, Edgar." Hayner said. "So, shall we get going?"

"Of course." Edgar replied with a nod as he started walking.

Edgar led the three through the Second District and quickly arrived at the Third. The team had to fight off a few Heartless, but it was never anything too major. Eventually, they arrived at a small house.

"This is it." Edgar said as he reached for the door.

"Not very big, is it?" Clarabelle asked, looking at the size of the house.

"Eh, we stay at the hotel. This is just a meeting place for us to work out plans." Edgar explained as he opened the door.

Inside, Hayner saw that the house wasn't in that great of shape. There was some furniture scattered around, and a good amount of computers were set up in the corner, so it looked livable. Hayner quickly spotted two females sitting at the table, talking. One was blonde and wore glasses while the other had green hair in an unusual style.

Edgar looked around the room. "Hmm…That's strange. We're missing two members." He then walked over to the table and looked at the two ladies. "Girls, here's the Keyblade bearer we've been told to look for."

The blonde took a quick glance at Hayner and then at Edgar. "You sure he's the one, Edgar?" She asked.

The long-haired man nodded. "He and his friends took out a bunch of Heartless attacking me." Edgar assured.

The blonde stood up and smiled. "Sorry about that. I can't be too careful." She extended her hand to Hayner. "I'm Quistis."

"And I'm Rydia." The green-haired girl said in a softer, kinder tone.

"What you see here are four-sixths of the Traverse Town Protection Squad." Edgar said.

"Wait. Four-sixths?" Horace asked. "I only see three of you."

"Over here!" A high-pitched voice came from the computer. The team looked at the computer and saw a small, female mouse with wavy, dirty blonde hair, wearing goggles and a purple jumpsuit. "Gadget Hackwrench. Computer technician." She said from near the keypad. She then jumped onto the ground, scurried across the floor and climbed up onto the table with the rest of the team.

"Where're the others, guys?" Edgar asked.

"On patrol." Quistis said simply. "They're just making sure that things are going smoothly."

"Who might you be?" Rydia asked, standing up.

"Hayner. This is Horace and that's Clarabelle." Hayner replied. "Leon told us to come here first before we went on to save the different worlds that are in danger."

"Well, we're just to see to it that you're prepared and all." Gadget said. "So, how long have you had this Keyblade, Hayner?"

"Uh…Less than a day?" Hayner replied.

"Then I take it you don't know any magic, then?" Rydia asked.

"Magic? No. Clarabelle's the one that knows the magic."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't know some as well, Hayner." Rydia said as he created a red orb in her hand.

"What's that?" Hayner asked.

His question was answered when his Keyblade appeared in his hand. The orb leapt off of Rydia's arm and flew into Hayner's Keyblade. As soon as it touched the blade, the orb vanished.

"There." Rydia said. "I've given you a Fire spell to start off with. As you get more used to this new Keyblade, you'll gain access to more magic."

"Well…Thank you, Rydia." Hayner said. "I think I could-"

Suddenly, everyone heard loud, metal footsteps approaching the door. The door flew open and a tall man in a suit of armour dashed into the room. However, he collided with Horace, not expecting him to be right inside the house. Both soldiers collapsed to the ground.

The newcomer jumped to his feet, practically out of breath. "Lady Rydia! Master Edgar! Lady Quistis!" The knight said. "It's horrible!"

"Steiner?" Edgar asked. "What is it?"

"The First District is crawling with Heartless!" The knight, Steiner, shouted.


	4. An Old Friend

Chapter four: An Old Friend

**(Traverse Town)**

"Heartless in the First District!" Quistis asked with wide eyes. "But how!"

"Something's gone wrong with the security program, Lady Quistis!" Steiner insisted.

"I'll get to work on it!" Gadget said as she jumped from the table and ran back to the computer.

"Say, Steiner? Where's-" Edgar started.

"He's holding off the Heartless while I came back here to get help!" Steiner interrupted.

"Looks like our work here isn't done yet." Hayner said as his Keyblade appeared in his hand. "Mr. Steiner? I really wish we could have met under better circumstances, but if you need any help, we'll do it gladly."

"Oh! The Keyblade bearer we were told about!" Steiner said. "Splendid! We really need your help to fight off these Heartless!"

"How long will it take before the Heartless get forced out of the First District?" Horace asked.

"Until I can figure out this problem with the security program." Gadget said from the computer as she typed on the keypad.

"We'll hold them off until you do." Hayner told the mouse. "Let's go, guys!"

With Steiner leading them, Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle left the small house and started running towards the First District to assist in getting rid of the Heartless invading. During the trek through the Second District, the group noticed a few Shadow Heartless rising from the ground.

"Gah! We don't have time for this!" Hayner complained, although not stopping himself from running.

"Leave these to me, sir!" Steiner shouted as he charged headfirst at the group of Heartless, holding a sword in his hand.

The Shadows jumped at Steiner, hoping to attack. However, they didn't even get close. Steiner swung his sword once while running, destroying all of the Heartless in midair. Luckily, no more Heartless bothered to appear, allowing Hayner and his team easy access to the First District.

Once they arrived, the first thing Hayner did was look around. The entire District was littered with Heartless, although the majority of them were Shadows, Soldiers and Neo Shadows.

"Man! Look at all the Heartless!" Hayner said. "Did everyone get out okay?"

"When we first saw the Heartless, the first thing we did was make sure the townsfolk were in a place beyond the Heartless' reach." Steiner explained.

"Uh…'We'?" Hayner asked.

"Oh, yes! Our new recruit!" Steiner added. "He should be around here somewhere."

"THUNDER!" A familiar voice screamed. Lightning struck the ground near the front doors to the town, destroying the Heartless in that area.

Looking in the direction of the voice, Hayner looked and saw an all-too-familiar figure standing with a staff raised to the sky. If the unique hat didn't give him away instantly, the glowing eyes and shadowed face did.

"Vivi!" Hayner said, wide-eyed.

The small Black Mage turned and saw whom had just addressed him. He stepped back in surprise and meekly waved. "Uh…Hey, Hayner." He said timidly.

"What are you DOING here!" Hayner asked.

"Hayner, the reunion's gonna have to wait!" Horace said. "We have to get rid of these Heartless!"

"Oh, right!" Hayner said before getting into a stance.

Hayner was the first to attack. The young boy ran through a swarm of Shadow Heartless, rapidly swinging his Keyblade. He continued running until he reached the ledge overlooking the lower section of the First District. Hayner leapt off the ledge, landed on his feet and continued the onslaught.

"Master Vivi!" Steiner shouted as he rushed over to the small Black Mage's side, destroying several Heartless on the way over. "I've returned with help!"

"That's great Steiner, but PLEASE don't call me 'Master Vivi'." Vivi said as he cast a Fire spell, wiping out a few more Heartless. "I'm the new recruit here."

"But you're the more powerful one." Steiner said as he killed another Heartless with his sword. "In fact, I think you're a more-powerful mage than Master Edgar."

"Uh…You think we could discuss this later, when there AREN'T any mindless drones trying to kill us?" Vivi asked as he swung his staff, knocking a Soldier Heartless away.

"Of course."

Clarabelle had to admit that the amount of Heartless surrounding her was beginning to make her claustrophobic. The castle librarian tried attacking the Heartless with her book, but it did little considering that they were everywhere.

"I need magic!" Clarabelle said hysterically as she opened her book and started wading her way through the Heartless swarm. "Come on! Come on! It's here somewhere!"

Clarabelle quickly came upon the magic she had been looking for. Once she did, Clarabelle lifted her hand. "MAGNET!" She screamed.

Almost instantly, a black orb appeared on the field and started pulsating with energy. The swarm of Heartless that had been surrounding her were instantly pulled in and unable to escape.

Knowing that the spell wouldn't last long, Clarabelle knew that she had to take out the Heartless before they resumed attacking her. She flipped through a couple more pages and lifted her hand again. "BLIZZARD!"

Cold air shot forth, instantly freezing the large group of Heartless trapped in the field of the Magnet. Once they were all frozen, the Magnet magic vanished. Clarabelle rushed forward and attacked the frozen Heartless with her book. The ice broke, destroying the Heartless trapped inside.

Hayner growled as he destroyed another Heartless. "This would be easier if I knew how to use that magic Rydia gave me."

"You need to concentrate, Hayner!"

Hayner looked up and saw Clarabelle waving down at him from the upper level. "Concentrate and you'll be able to summon magic easily!"

The new Keyblade bearer nodded and looked ahead. He started concentrating, thinking about the spell Rydia had given him earlier. "FIRE!" He shouted, lashing out his Keyblade.

A ball of fire shot from the end of Hayner's Keyblade and plowed through several Shadows, a couple Soldiers and a Neo Shadow. Any Heartless that wasn't destroyed instantly was set on fire, and then set several more Heartless on fire.

"Hayner!"

Hayner turned around and saw Horace coming over, killing a few Heartless at the same time. "I know a way to get rid of more of these things at once!" The horse said.

"How?" Hayner said.

Horace grinned. "Combo Attack!"

"Combo Attack?" Hayner paused in thought. "I think Sora told me about those once. Isn't that where two people join forces in a devastating attack that has the destructive power to take out several enemies at once?"

"Yep!" Horace nodded. "You up for one, Hayner?"

Hayner smirked. "Sure. Let's give one a shot!"

**Hayner and Horace's Combo Attack: Flaming Lance**

"Horace!" Hayner shouted as he activated his Fire magic.

"Ready!" Horace replied as he stepped beside Hayner and held out his hand.

Hayner shot a ball of fire into Horace's hand, which then turned into a spear made out of pure flames. Horace gripped it like it was a normal spear, then tossed it at the Heartless. Once it struck a Heartless, the flaming spear destroyed whichever was nearby as well.

Once again, Horace extended his hand to Hayner. The young boy gave the horse another ball of fire, which was quickly turned into another flaming spear.

While Horace was throwing the spears at the Heartless, Hayner was swinging his Keyblade, sending waves of fire around and attacking Heartless from the sides and from behind.

This continued until Horace had thrown his fifth spear. Once he had, he turned to Hayner.

"Let's finish this!" Horace shouted. Hayner nodded as Horace pulled out his normal spear and threw it high into the air. Hayner aimed and shot a ball of fire at it in the air.

Suddenly, hundreds of flaming spears rained down from above, landing all over the area. Many Heartless were destroyed as Horace's spear fell from the sky and landed ten feet away, plunging into the ground. Horace walked over to his spear and casually pulled it from the ground.

**End of Combo Attack**

"Horace! That was awesome!" Hayner said as he approached his horse friend.

Horace chuckled. "Yeah. That WAS pretty fun."

Clarabelle rushed over. "Hayner! These things just keep coming! No matter how many we destroy, they still respawn!"

"We're just supposed to hold them off until Gadget can get the security program working again, Clarabelle." Horace explained.

"But how long should that take?" The cow looked around fearfully.

"Knowing Lady Gadget and her knowledge for these computers, anytime now." Steiner replied with a smirk.

Suddenly, as if on cue, bright lights shot from the posts around the District, and quickly engulfed the entire area, blinding the sight of anyone standing on the streets. Hayner covered his eyes to protect them from the light's intensity.

When Hayner uncovered his eyes, he looked around in awe, as every single Heartless in the District was gone. The First District was once again Heartless-less.

"Wow!" Hayner said, his eyes wide. Horace and Clarabelle had similar expressions. "That was amazing!"

"Yes, it WAS, wasn't it?" Steiner said. "And if we can copy that technology and place the programs all over town, the Heartless will stop coming."

The group of five walked back to the small house in the Third District. Steiner opened the door.

"Uh…Can I talk to Vivi for a second, guys?" Hayner asked. Said Black Mage sighed.

Horace and Clarabelle nodded as they followed Steiner into the house, leaving Hayner and Vivi alone.

"Vivi, you mean to tell me that you've been here the entire time you've been missing?" Hayner asked.

Vivi sighed. "Hayner, I wasn't missing. Edgar and Rydia came here in the middle of the night and said that they could use someone with my skills to help protect Traverse Town. I left that night and I've been here ever since."

"Vivi, you left without saying goodbye to anyone." Hayner stated. "We've been worried about you."

"Oh…Really?" Vivi asked, surprised. "I never thought people would actually MISS me."

"What about your parents?"

"I live by myself, Hayner." Vivi said with a sigh.

Hayner paused. "…Really? You never told anyone that."

"I didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me." Vivi replied.

"…Well, what made you accept the offer?"

"Look, Hayner. I've always wanted someone I could look up to. Someone who was the strongest and would be willing to stick up for anyone. Up until recently, I thought that somebody was Seifer." Vivi replied. "He always went around and told everybody to follow is rules or get a severe thrashing. Heck, he always said that the town was his because he was the leader of the disciplinary group."

Hayner remained silent, but let Vivi continue.

"I always wanted to be big and strong like him, and I was so excited that I was part of the group that I wasn't really paying attention to the fact Seifer made me do all the chores."

"But?"

"But that was before you started winning your fights against him, Hayner." Vivi explained. "Don't take it wrong, though. You DESERVED that Struggle trophy you won. At first, I thought you were just lucky, but then it just kept happening." The young mage looked at the ground. "You really opened my eyes, Hayner. I soon realized that Seifer wasn't as unbeatable as he claimed he was. Hey, I think even RAI might be stronger than him."

"Vivi, if I did anything to sever the friendship you had with Seifer…" Hayner started.

"Hayner, Seifer never really considered me a friend. If anything, you made me realize he was taking advantage of me and was making me do all the stuff he was too lazy to do himself." Vivi paused to let it all sink in before he continued. "So that's the main reason I came here. To get away from Seifer. I'm real sorry I didn't say goodbye, though. I honestly didn't think anyone would miss me."

"Hey, now that you've stated your reasons, I don't really blame you." Hayner admitted. "So, do you think you'll find anyone else to look up to?"

"I already have."

"Huh?"

"Yep. And I think this one's a much better choice than Seifer." Vivi chuckled.

"Who is it?" Hayner asked.

"Steiner. Up until I arrived, he was the only decent fighter, although Edgar and Rydia are skilled mages themselves. However, when I saw Steiner fighting off Heartless, I joined him. Since then, we've been a team, fighting off invasions together."

"You mean to tell me that you think that knight is a better role model than Seifer?" Hayner asked.

"Well, not like that's very hard to do." Vivi rubbed the back of his head and gave a nervous chuckle. "But yeah. Steiner's the strongest fighter I've ever seen in my life, Hayner. Even though I've said that I want to be like him, Steiner always calls me 'Master Vivi' because he respects my magic skills like no other."

"So I take it you like it here?" Hayner asked.

"I've got friends here, Hayner. REAL friends." Vivi explained. "Coming here was the best thing I've ever done."

"Well, I'll respect your choice, Vivi." Hayner said. "Thanks for answering my questions."

"No problem, Hayner." Vivi said before pausing. "Actually, do you think you could answer a couple of MY questions before we head in?"

"Shoot."

"What brings you here and how did you end up with a Keyblade?" Vivi asked.

Hayner sighed. "I'll answer them both at the same time. Heartless invaded Twilight Town."

Vivi jumped in shock. "H-Heartless in Twilight Town!"

Hayner nodded. "Yeah, but luckily, they were weaker, so the townsfolk were able to fight them off with Struggle bats. However, when I wished I had a weapon so I could help out, this Keyblade appeared in my hand."

"Wow! Just like that?"

"Just like that. After the fight, I saw Pence and Olette getting pulled through a puddle of darkness. I tried to get them out but I got pulled under as well. The next thing I know, I'm at Radiant Garden, and without Pence or Olette."

"So you have no clue as to where they are?" Vivi asked, worried about Pence and Olette.

"None whatsoever." Hayner sighed. "Anyway, I met up with Horace and Clarabelle there and they told me that if I helped them save all of these worlds, I might find out where Pence and Olette are. Leon told us to come here for starters and the rest is history."

"Well, I hope you find them." Vivi said. "I know how inseparable you guys are."

"Thanks. I'm sure I'll find out something as time goes by." Hayner said.

"Well, we should probably go inside." Vivi said.

"For sure."

With that, the two entered the house, where everyone else was waiting for them.

"You guys finished talking?" Edgar asked.

"Yep. All done." Hayner said.

"Well, now that you're here, we can get down to business." Rydia continued. "From what we were told, you guys are out to save the worlds, much like Sora and his friends are."

"Yeah, but I've also got a couple of friends to find." Hayner replied.

Rydia nodded. "Well, we're to start you off by giving you advice."

"Advice on what?"

"Traveling between worlds, Hayner." Gadget explained. "You see, the roads between each of these worlds are closed, and from what we've heard, the only way to access them is by unlocking gates hidden throughout the current world."

"Okay…But how will I know when I've found one?" Hayner asked.

"Your Keyblade will tell you." Quistis added. "From what we were told, the Keyblade will emit a bright light when it's found one of the gates. There's one hidden in each of the worlds you'll visit, Hayner, so if you want to go to all of them, you'll need to find them all."

"But it'll only happen once the danger in the world has been taken care of." Edgar pointed out. "Until you save the world from the Heartless and Nobodies, you won't find the gate."

"Sounds easy enough." Hayner said. "So all I have to do is-"

"Hayner! Look!" Clarabelle interrupted, pointing at Hayner's Keyblade, which had appeared on its own. It was emitting a bright light from the blade.

Hayner chuckled. "Well, looks like we've found the first gate." He said as he gripped the Keyblade with both hands. "Let's see if I can copy what Sora did back in Twilight Town."

Suddenly, everything around Hayner vanished, leaving him standing in a mysterious void of some kind.

Back in the First District, there stood a post that had the words 'Traverse Town' written on it. It started emitting the same light. A beam of the light suddenly shot from the post, and appeared in the void with Hayner. Suddenly, the light exploded, creating a large keyhole.

"Let's give this a try." Hayner said as he lashed out his hand, pointing the tip of the Keyblade at the keyhole.

Another beam of light appeared, this one shooting from the end of Hayner's Keyblade. It sliced through the air before going straight and cleanly through the keyhole. Hayner heard a locking sound and was blinded with a bright light.

When the light cleared, Hayner was back in the small house, everyone else around him.

Hayner chuckled. "Well, I've found the gate, so I take it that means we can go onto the first world."

Rydia nodded. "You'd be right. Just remember to keep an eye on your Keyblade."

"Will you guys come by here every once in a while?" Vivi asked.

"Sure we will!" Horace assured.

"Horace is right." Clarabelle nodded. "Don't worry. You'll see us again."

"Thanks for all your help, guys." Hayner said. "I'm looking forward to our return."

"Take care, guys." Quistis said with a smile.

"Good luck on your quest." Edgar added.

"I hope you guys find what you're looking for." Rydia said.

"Don't worry about us! We've got everything under control." Gadget assured.

"You've got skill, Master Hayner." Steiner said, bowing slightly. "Be sure that you use it to it's full potential."

"See ya round, Hayner!" Vivi finished with a wave.

Bidding farewell to everyone, Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle left the house and started walking back towards the first District, where the Gummi Ship was parked.

Thus starting a brand new adventure.


	5. Cinderella's Castle Part 1

Chapter five: Cinderella's Castle Part 1

**(Castle Courtyard)**

An older woman stormed through a door, seething in anger. A black-haired young woman followed, looking more upset than angry.

"I can't BELIEVE her!" The older woman growled. "How can my own…My own DAUGHTER side with that…That…"

"Mother, calm down." The younger woman replied. "I'm upset that Anastasia turned on us as well, but it's her loss."

"Indeed, Drizella." The older woman nodded. "However, one thing Anastasia should have learned by now is that no one, not even family, turns on Lady Tremaine and gets away with it!"

"But what do you propose to do about it, mother?" Drizella challenged. "Cinderella probably has all of the castle protecting Anastasia now that she's made amends with her."

For once, Lady Tremaine was at a loss for words. No matter how she looked at it, there was no denying it. Now that Anastasia had befriended Cinderella, the entire kingdom would side with her over Tremaine.

"I'm sure we'll come up with something." Lady Tremaine insisted.

"Like what? And when?" Drizella asked again. "By the time we come up with a way to get into the castle, Anastasia will have married that baker and moved out of the kingdom."

"Psst."

Lady Tremaine and Drizella looked in the direction of the new voice and saw an unusual figure standing in the shadows. The mother and daughter looked at each other before approaching the figure.

"What is it?" Lady Tremaine asked.

"I understand you are looking for a little 'revenge'." The figure replied. "Perhaps I can help."

"How could you help us?" Lady Tremaine asked. "Do you have access to the castle?"

"Better than that." The figure replied, holding out his hand. "I have access to the _guards_."

Lady Tremaine and Drizella watched in amazement as an orb of darkness enveloped in the figure's hand. After a couple of seconds, an evil smirk floated across the face of the older woman.

"Why, thank you." Lady Tremaine said. "This will help us more than you may think."

The figure smirked darkly, a twisted smile floating across his duck-bill mouth.

**(Town Square)**

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." Hayner shook his head as he stepped out of the Gummi Ship. "Those warps are going to get me every time."

"Wow. The Keyblade Bearer has motion sickness." Horace teased.

"I do not!" Hayner insisted. He sighed and looked at the librarian. "Any idea on what to do from here, Clarabelle?"

Clarabelle opened another book of hers and flipped through the pages, occasionally looking around to get a feel of what was around her. "Looks like this is the kingdom of one of the Princesses of Heart." She noted.

"Which one?" Horace asked as he walked over.

"Cinderella, it looks like." Clarabelle replied. She pointed off into the distance, towards a castle. "That's her castle over there."

"You sure that there's a Heartless invasion here, guys?" Hayner asked, looking around the town as the trio walked down the stone roads. "It looks pretty peaceful here."

Horace's eyes widened. "Then that must mean that the Heartless are inside the castle!" He realized.

"The Princess of Heart is in danger!" Clarabelle gasped. "We need to get into the castle!"

"Guys, ignoring the fact that I have no idea what that whole 'Princess of Heart' thing is, how do you think we're going to get into the castle to begin with?" Hayner asked.

The horse and cow looked at each other, back at Hayner and fumbled for words, unable to come up with anything concrete.

"I thought not." Hayner sighed. "Looks like we'll have to find someone that can get us into the castle."

The trio walked through the town, trying to find someone that could help get them into the castle. Unfortunately, all of the townsfolk said that they weren't allowed in the castle unless they had an audience with Cinderella and all of the guards were at the castle already. After a good twenty minutes of searching, the trio of newfound friends sighed in defeat.

"It's no use." Hayner sighed. "There's no one around that can help us get into the castle."

"Um…Excuse me?"

The three turned around and saw a young woman with long, red hair and a purple dress coming over, holding an empty basket in her hand.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear that you needed to get into the castle." The redhead noted. "What for?"

"We're on a mission from King Mickey." Horace replied.

"King Mickey?" The redhead asked, rubbing her chin. "How do I know that you're telling the truth?"

Horace pulled out a document and showed it to the redhead, whom scanned it over. After a couple of seconds, a smile appeared on her face. "Sorry about that. You can never be too careful when dealing with people not from around here." She apologized.

"Quite alright." Horace assured.

"So you can get us into the castle?" Hayner asked.

"Sure. I was going there, anyway." The redhead nodded. "Cinderella's my stepsister."

"Well, it's good to make your acquaintance, ma'am. I'm Hayner."

"Horace Horcecollar."

"Clarabelle Cow."

"Pleasure to meet you all." The redhead curtseyed. "I'm Anastasia."

"Well, let's get going." Hayner said. "We need to find the Heartless before they can do any damage."

Anastasia tilted her head. "Heartless?" She asked.

"Hopefully nothing you'll have to worry about." Horace waved his hand in dismissal.

The quartet walked through the town, Anastasia leading the way. Eventually, they arrived in the castle courtyard, where they could see the large front door to the castle, one guard on either side of them.

"Well, here we are." Anastasia said. "I hope Cinderella doesn't mind me stopping by a little earlier than expected."

"Quite a place your stepsister has." Hayner noted, looking at the size of the castle.

"Believe me, she deserves it if she could forgive me for everything I helped my mother do to her." Anastasia sighed, more to herself.

Unfortunately for Anastasia, Clarabelle caught it. "Uh…What was that?" She asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing."

Anastasia approached one of the guards, whom was keeping his head down.

"Leroy, it's me." Anastasia said cheerfully as she approached. "I know Cinderella isn't expecting me for a little bit, but could you guys let me in?"

The guard didn't answer. He just kept his head low, his helmet shrouding his face.

"Uh…Leroy?" Anastasia asked as she lifted the guard's helmet. "You okay?"

However, as soon as Anastasia lifted the helmet, she recoiled in horror and screamed. The guard's face was blackened, his eyes were glowing yellow and he had a twisted smile with jagged teeth. As soon as Anastasia scream, the guard came to life and glanced at her before stepping forth and raising his sword. The other guard did the same.

"They're Heartless!" Hayner shouted.

"We're too late!" Clarabelle realized.

"Anastasia, get to a safe place!" Hayner ordered the redhead as he summoned his keyblade. "We'll take care of things here!" The frightened redhead didn't need to be told twice and scrambled away. "Let's get them, guys!"

Clarabelle looked back and suddenly saw that two more Heartless Guards were approaching. She shouted in surprise and whacked one across the face with her spellbook.

Hayner jumped at two of the guards and swung his keyblade. However, the guards were just as quick, blocking the huge slice with their respective swords. One of the guards took a swing at Hayner, but the young Keyblade Bearer was quick to avoid it and slash the guard in the chest.

As the first guard staggered back, the second slashed at Hayner. The blonde boy jumped to the side and let the sword pass him before swinging his keyblade and smashing it down on the guard's back.

Horace was easily taking on the lone guard that had rushed him. The guard attempted several swings with his sword, but Horace easily blocked the attacks using the pole of his spear. Once he found an opening, Horace took it and lashed out, taking a healthy bite out of the Heartless Guard's energy.

"This is nothing! And you call yourself a guard!" Horace scoffed. "Come on! Just try and take me!"

The guard seemed to accept the challenge and rushed the horse again. Horace jabbed the end of his spear pole into the Heartless' neck and gave a hard swing, launching the guard across the courtyard, where he hit a pillar. By the time the Heartless had hit the ground, it was nothing more than a pile of armour.

Clarabelle quickly ducked under the blade of a guard's sword and kicked him in the stomach. While the Heartless was recovering, Clarabelle quickly smashed her book into the guard's face.

While the guard was distracted, Clarabelle opened her bok and started flipping through the pages again. Finding the spell she was looking for, Clarabelle lifted her hand. "Thunder!" She shouted, causing a bolt of lightning to rain down from above and strike the guard, severely electrocuting him.

The attack ended and the guard crumpled to the ground, nothing but a pile of armour now that the Heartless was destroyed.

Hayner swung his keyblade as hard as he could, knocking one of the two remaining Heartless back and destroying the other one. The remaining Heartless took another swing at Hayner, and then followed with a downward vertical slice. Hayner jumped to the side and swung his keyblade down without thinking.

The helmet of the Heartless Guard hit the ground and rolled for a couple of feet. The armour of the now-destroyed Heartless crumpled to the ground.

Hayner sighed in relief. "I'm glad that's over." He said.

"It's NOT." Horace reminded.

Hayner's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah! The princess!" He realized. "Come on, guys! Let's go!"

"Wait!"

The three turned and saw Anastasia running over.

"Take me with you!" Anastasia pleaded.

"Anastasia, you don't know what you're up against, here." Clarabelle replied.

"Yeah. If you come along, you could get hurt." Hayner nodded.

"Or worse. Your heart could get taken." Horace added.

"Yeah. And then you'll end up like one of those guards." Hayner sighed.

"I don't care! Cinderella's in there!" Anastasia replied stubbornly. She bent over and picked up a sword from one of the fallen Heartless Guards. "I can hold my own in a fight. She can't. She can be in serious trouble and I need to help her!"

"Why are you so intent on doing this?" Horace asked.

"Call it my way of making a few things up to her." Anastasia replied, looking at the ground. "Cinderella gave me a second chance, so now I'm going to do everything I can to save her!"

Hayner sighed, knowing that they weren't getting anywhere with this. "Okay. If you feel that strongly about it, then you can come along." He said. "Just be careful, okay?"

Anastasia nodded. "I'll be careful. Don't worry." She assured.

"Well, let's get into the castle, guys!" Hayner said, turning towards the doors. "We have a princess to save!"

**(Cinderella's Room)**

Cinderella rushed into her room in the castle and shut the door behind her. Quickly grabbing a nearby coat rack, the blonde princess shoved it onto the handles of the two doors to her room, bolting it shut. Almost right after the coat rack was in place, whatever was chasing Cinderella started banging on the door from the other side.

"What are Heartless doing here?" Cinderella asked as she backed away from the door in fear. "I thought that we didn't have anything more to worry about them!"

The terrified girl quickly looked around the room, trying to find a way out. Unfortunately, there was no other openings or exits. The only thing going anywhere from the room was that mouse hole on the wall.

A light went on inside Cinderella's head as she realized something extremely important. She ran over to the mouse hole and got down on her hands and knees.

"Jacques! Gus!" Cinderella called out, almost desperately.

Almost instantly, two mice came from the hole in the wall, one dressed in a red jacket and one dressed in a green shirt that looked too small for him.

"Cinderelly! What's going on?" Jacuqes, the thinner mouse, asked.

"Oh, I'm so glad they didn't get you too!" Cinderella said as she scooped her two small friends up and hugged them as best as she could without crushing them. "Look, remember those Heartless things that I told you guys about?"

"Yeah. Is that what's wrong with all of those guards, Cinderelly?" Gus, the overweight mouse, asked.

"Yes, Gus. Those are Heartless. They've taken over the guards of the castle." Cinderella sighed. "Look, I need you to do something. Anastasia is probably trying to find me. I need you guys to go find her and tell her where I am. If she's unarmed and alone, tell her to leave me, okay?"

Jacques and Gus looked at each other, at the door (which the Heartless were still trying to break down), then back at Cinderella. "You bet, Cinderelly!" They said as one as they turned and scampered back into the mouse hole to start their trek through the mazes of the castle walls.

**(Hallway)**

"These things have taken over all of the guards in the castle?" Anastasia asked as she slashed at a Heartless Guard and took it out with her sword.

"The Heartless problem here is bigger than we thought!" Hayner said as he looked at Horace. "Horace, I thought you told me that the Heartless problem here was only minor!"

"That's what it said on the radar back on the Gummi Ship!" Horace insisted as he shoved his spear into the stomach of a Heartless Guard. "The minor problem we picked up must be what's spawning all of these!"

Clarabelle cast a Fire spell, setting fire to several Neo Shadows. Looking to her right, she saw a Large Body approaching. Casting a Lightning spell, Clarabelle took out most of its health. After the spell finished, Clarabelle rushed the Large Body and struck it in the face with her book, taking it out and making it vanish.

"It's not just the guards, either!" Clarabelle pointed out. "Where are all of these Shadows, Neo Shadows and Large Bodies coming from?"

"Most likely from the same source." Horace replied.

"Is there no end to these things?" Anastasia asked as she threw a Shadow off her back and slashed it with the sword she had taken. "We need a quicker way to destroy them! This is getting us nowhere!"

"She's right, Hayner." Horace said. "We've only gotten about fifty feet from the door."

A light went on inside Clarabelle's head. She turned to the Keyblade Bearer. "Hayner, let's do a Combo Attack!" She suggested.

"Seriously?" Hayner asked.

"My spells can cover the most ground out of all three of us." Clarabelle replied. "If we can pull it off, we may be able to destroy most of them."

"You have a point, Clarabelle." Hayner nodded. "Okay! Let's do it!"

**Hayner and Clarabelle's Combo Attack: Omega Whirlwind**

"Clarabelle!" Hayner shouted as he started charging his Fire spell.

"I'm right here!" Clarabelle replied as she lifted her hand into the air.

Clarabelle cast her Ice magic as Hayner started casting his Fire spell. When the two elements combined, they started to form a small twister. However, Hayner continued to cast his Fire spell as Clarabelle remained focus to keep her Ice magic powered.

The more Fire spells hit the twister, the larger it became. Heartless started getting pulled into the vortex, and the bigger the twister became, the more Heartless got sucked in. Within seconds, a lot of the Heartless in the area were inside the whirlwind.

Hayner continued to shoot Fire spells into the vortex and nailed several of the Heartless floating around in the growing twisted.

After Hayner had shot about ten orbs of fire into the twister, Clarabelle turned to the Keyblade Bearer.

"Give it everything!" Clarabelle encouraged as she continued to fire a stream of cold into the tornado. Hayner aimed the tip of his Keyblade at the twisted and started charging energy. When he was fully-charged, Hayner shot a huge ball of fire at the twister as Clarabelle cut off her Ice magic.

The huge ball of fire made contact with the twister, resulting in a large explosion. When the explosion died down, all of the Heartless in the twister were destroyed.

**End of Combo Attack**

"Sweet! We must have cleared out most of the Heartless after that!" Hayner said.

"That's a relief." Clarabelle nodded.

Anastasia swung her sword, taking out the last Neo Shadow in the group. After she had finished it off, she looked around and saw that the Heartless were all destroyed.

"Was that all of them?" Anastasia asked.

"Yeah." Hayner nodded. "Now let's keep going."

"Anastasia!"

The quartet turned and watched as Jacques and Gus made their entrance through a mouse hole.

"Jacques! Gus!" Anastasia greeted. "I thought the Heartless got you guys, too!"

"You know these mice?" Hayner asked.

"For a long while, those two were Cinderella's best friends." Anastasia replied.

"Cinderelly told us to come and find you so we could tell you where she was!" Jacques pointed out.

"Cinderella's okay?" Anastasia asked. "Where is she?"

"She's in her room." Gus replied. "She said that if you were unarmed and alone, that you should just run and save yourself."

"And leave her in this Heartless-filled castle?" Anastasia asked. "No way!"

"You need to hurry!" Jacques said. "Some Heartless are trying to break Cinderelly's door in!'

Anastasia gasped, then turned to her newfound team-mates. "Come on, Hayner! We need to save her!" She said.

"I know! Anastasia, you know the way!" Hayner said. "You'd better lead!"

Anastasia looked down at the two mice. "You boys get out of here! It's not safe in here anymore!" She said. "Once we save Cinderella, you can come back in!"

"You got it, Anastasia!" Jacques and Gus said.

However, just as Gus was about to start, he realized something. "Wait! We found something on the way!" He said.

"Oh, yeah! Maybe you can use it!" Jacques nodded as he ran back into the mouse hole and came out with a blue orb. Once it came close to Hayner, it leapt off the ground and absorbed itself into Hayner's keyblade.

"What was that?" Anastasia asked.

"It looked like…Another spell." Hayner replied.

"It was an Ice spell." Clarabelle replied. "Now you can use the Ice magic."

"Well, this can help a lot." Hayner nodded. "Okay, guys! We're ready! Let's go save Cinderella!"


	6. Cinderella's Castle Part 2

Chapter six: Cinderella's Castle Part 2

**(Hallway)**

"How much longer until we get there, Anastasia?" Hayner asked as he slashed a Neo Shadow, destroying it.

"It's not too far!" Anastasia assured as she ran a Soldier Heartless through with her sword. "Come on! This way!"

Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle continued to follow the frazzled redhead through the hallways of the castle, trying to get to Cinderella's room as quickly as they could before the leader of the Heartless could get to her.

The quarter went running around a corner, Anastasia still in the lead.

"Okay, we just need to go through those doors and then we'll-" Anastasia said before screeching to a halt. Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle came to an abrupt halt as well, barely managing to avoid running into each other.

"What is it?" Clarabelle asked.

"Some guards are up ahead." Hayner pointed out, noticing the two guards standing in front of the huge double doors leading further into the castle.

"Just a couple more guards." Horace noted.

"Yeah. Let's take them out, Horace." Hayner suggested.

"Works for me." Horace shrugged as he readied his spear.

Rather than help Hayner and Horace with the guards, Clarabelle turned to Anastasia. "Anastasia, why won't you tell us why you're so keen on saving Cinderella?" The cow asked.

"I…I can't say." Anastasia replied. "I don't want to relive the memories."

"Come on. You can tell me."

Anastatsia sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you." She said. "My mother married Cinderella's father, and when he died, she made her a slave in her own home. My sister and I seemed to like everything done for us and, even though I regret it dearly now, we made her do everything."

"Really?" Clarabelle asked, her eyes wide. "I knew that Cinderella had a rough life growing up, but I never would have thought it was that bad…"

Anastasia looked down. "After a series of incidents that happened all at once, Cinderella got married to the prince here. Then, when I least expected it, she helped me get over my past self." The redhead sighed. "Can you believe it? After everything I did to her all these years, she still helps me."

"My. It's no wonder Cinderella is one of the top Princesses of Heart." Clarabelle said in awe.

"So now you know why I have to save her." Anastasia said. "This won't make up for everything I've done. Not by a long shot. But this is definitely a start to help make everything up to her."

Clarabelle sighed and gave a warm smile as she placed a comforting hand on Anastasia's shoulder. "Anastasia, don't worry. I'm sure that Cinderella has already forgiven you." She assured.

"She already has. She told me herself." Anastasia said. "But that doesn't change the fact that I did all of those things."

"Maybe you just need to forgive yourself." Clarabelle suggested.

"Okay! That's that!" Hayner said in satisfaction.

Clarabelle and Anastasia looked up to see that Hayner and Horace had just destroyed the Guard Heartless.

"Now that the door is unguarded, we can get through easily." Hayner pointed out. "You ready, Anastasia?"

The redhead nodded and stepped forward, still pondering what Clarabelle had suggested to her. Anastasia pushed open the double doors and led the team through them.

"So where's Cinderella's room?" Horace asked.

"Not too far away." Anastasia replied. "Come on! Before she-"

That was all Anastasia could get out before a huge, black and gray beast jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of her. The beast had a lion-like head with a black and gray mane and four paws, standing on all four of them, but its tail looked more like that of a scorpion. Anastasia screamed as she fell backwards.

"What the heck is that thing?" Hayner asked as he helped Anastasia to her feet.

Clarabelle quickly flipped through her books. "I don't understand! It's got all of the features of a Heartless, but I can't find it anywhere in this book!" She insisted. "It's like this is a brand new type of Heartless or something!"

"Looks like we'll need to go through this thing if we are to continue." Horace noted as he readied his spear.

"We need to make this quick!" Anastasia said. "Cinderella's room is right around the corner and she could be I danger!"

"Then we need to take this thing down in record time." Hayner said. "No problem. Let's get it!"

**Boss Battle Start: Heartless Beast**

The beast lunged forward and lashed out its tail at Horace. The horse, seeing the attack coming, held up his spear and blocked the blow.

"I've got the best defensive abilities!" Horace explained. "I'll distract it while you guys pelt it with attacks!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Hayner nodded as he jumped forward and slashed the beast in the side. Hayner continued to attack the beast before it retaliated and swung its tail, striking Hayner in the face and sending the Keyblade wielder into the wall.

The beast roared and lashed out with its face, attempting to take a bite out of Hayner. Hayner looked up and saw the beast coming.

"I don't think so!" Hayner shouted as he aimed his Keyblade at the beast's open mouth. "Fire!"

With that, Hayner sent a ball of fire into the beast's open mouth, making the attack stop and making the beast recoil in pain.

Seeing her chance, Clarabelle opened her book and raised her hand. "Get back, guys!" She ordered.

Hayner and Anastasia, whom were attacking the beast, quickly saw Clarabelle gathering up magic. Knowing what was coming, the two jumped back.

"THUNDER!" Clarabelle shouted, swinging her arm down and pointing at the beast. Bolts of lightning rained down from above and pelted the beast several times in the back, stunning it.

"This isn't so hard." Hayner said as he jumped forward and continued to whale on the monster. "We should have this thing beat quickly."

Horace looked up and suddenly saw that the monster was pulling its tail back. "Hayner, look alive!" He warned.

"What?" Hayner asked.

The beast lashed its tail out, sending a ring of dark flames in Hayner's direction. Because he was unprepared for this, Hayner took the attack to the face and was sent flying backwards again.

"You okay?" Anastasia asked as she helped Hayner to his feet.

"Ugh…Yeah." Hayner nodded. "I'll have to watch for those attack from now on."

"Whenever that ting pulls its tail back, get away from it." Anastasia suggested. "It looks like that's when it'll send one of those rings out."

"Well, with that in mind, let's continue with the fight." Hayner suggested. "I think we can take it down with little problems."

Anastasia nodded as the two rushed into battle again. Horace was taking small bits of the monster's health out with his spear, but by himself, he was starting to wear down. When Hayner and Anastasia jumped in and started attacking as well, Horace let up a bit to regain his stamina.

Knowing that she wouldn't be of much help just attacking the beast with her book, Clarabelle had opted to stand aside and cast magic to damage the monster and slow it down.

"Magnet won't work on something that big…Fire probably won't have any effect…" Clarabelle noted. "Looks like my main forms of attack here are Ice and Thunder."

Deciding to cast Ice, Clarabelle waved her hand and sent a wave of cold at the huge Heartless. When the Ice Wave hit the beast, it froze for a second.

"Hey! Ice seems to have a big effect on it!" Hayner noted as he gave the beast a few more strikes before it unfroze.

"You've got Ice now, Hayner!" Clarabelle called out. "You focus on that while I keep unleashing Thunder!"

"On it, Clarabelle!" Hayner nodded as he cast his newfound Ice magic and froze the monster again.

"Keep going at it!" Anastasia said as she swung her sword a few times, attacking the beast. "We must have it on the ropes by now!"

"We do!" Clarabelle replied. "Its health is almost gone!"

The beast unfroze and swung its tail, sending three rings of dark fire this time. Hayner and Horace were able to block the rings sent at them, but Anastasia received a sharp blow to the side. The redhead quickly recovered and glared daggers at the beast.

"One more Ice spell should do it." Hayner said as he cast Ice, freezing the Heartless in its tracks again.

That's when Anastasia sprung into action, rushing at the beast and swinging her sword with all of her might.

The beast suddenly unfroze, letting out an inhuman roar of pain and anguish before collapsing to the floor. Two seconds later, the beast vanished in a cloud of smoke as a large heart rose from within, rose into the air and vanished from sight.

**Battle End**

"We did it!" Hayner said in victory. "That was some swing, Anastasia!"

"Thanks." Anastasia nodded before looking at Clarabelle. "How did you know we were so close to defeating it?"

"I'm a mage. Where I come from, mages are trained to see the health of an enemy they come across." Clarabelle explained. "Comes in handy for fights against a major enemy."

"I hate to bring rain on our parade, but we've got company!" Horace pointed out. The group looked ahead and saw another swarm of Heartless coming.

"We can't stop now!" Anastasia said. "We're almost there!"

"Come on! Straight through the swarm!" Hayner shouted. "Let's go!"

**(Cinderella's Room)**

Cinderella paced nervously in her room as the creature on the other side of her door continued to bang on it from the other side, starting to cause the coat-rack blocking the doors to split.

The blonde princess knew that she wouldn't be able to run anywhere, so Cinderella simply picked up a metal rod from a bucket near the fireplace and prepared to fight the creature.

"I just hope that Jacques and Gus were able to find Anastasia." Cinderella said. "At least I can take some comfort in knowing that my step-sister will be alright."

Before Cinderella had time to reflect any further, the coat-rack was split in half, causing the door to swing open. Cinderella prepared to swing her weapon when her eyes widened in shock and horror. Cinderella dropped her weapon and backed away.

"N-No! It can't be-" Cinderella stammered.

That was all the princess could get out before web splattered over her mouth.

**(Hallway)**

Horace swung his spear, destroying several small Heartless. "They just keep coming, Hayner!" The horse pointed out.

"Keep going!" Hayner urged. "We can't let this stop us!"

"I think I might have an idea as to how to clear the way to Cinderella's room, Hayner!" Anastasia said.

"What's that, Anastasia?" Hayner asked.

"A Combo Attack!" Anastasia replied. "That's probably our quickest way!"

"You think we could do one together?"

"It's worth a shot!"

Hayner shrugged. "Okay! Let's do it!"

**Hayner and Anastasia's Combo Attack: Dueling Waltz**

"Anastasia!" Hayner shouted as he approached the redhead.

"Shall we dance?" Anastasia asked as the two linked hands as if they were about to start a dance, then looked at the swarm of Heartless, pointing their linked hands at them.

Hayner and Anastasia started dancing forward, rotating several times as they went. When the two got close to a Heartless, they let go of one of their partner's hands and swung with their respective weapons, taking the Heartless out as they danced past it.

Every time the two outstretched their weapons, they spun around a couple of times to make sure that they covered all ground around them when they attacked. Once they attacked, Hayner and Anastasia linked hands again and continued dancing.

This continued until the two had attacked about ten times each. Once they did, the two broke away from each other.

"And now for the finale!" Anastasia said. Hayner and Anastasia linked hands again and started spinning around rapidly. After several seconds of spinning, the two launched up into the air together, turned around and fell back down to the ground, holding their swords out towards the oncoming floor.

Hayner and Anastasia crashed into the floor, sending a huge shockwave out in all directions, wiping out whatever Heartless it touched. This attack took out most of the swarm.

When the shockwave died out, Hayner and Anastasia stood up to admire the damages.

**End of Combo Attack**

"Sweet! That took out most of the Heartless!" Hayner said.

"Come on!" Anastasia said as she grabbed Hayner by the arm. "We're almost there!"

Anastasia led Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle the rest of the way to Cinderella's room. Once they arrived, the quartet rushed through the open doors and into the room.

"Cinderella, are you okay?" Anastasia asked before seeing the scene in front of her. Screeching to a halt again (and nearly making the other run into her), Anastasia stared in shock and horror.

"What the heck is that?" Hayner asked.

"Not what." Clarabelle pointed out. "Who."

Anastasia fumbled for words for several seconds, tears of disbelief threatening to pour from her eyes. Finally, the name of the accused came from the redhead's mouth in the form of a whisper.

"…Mother?…"

Indeed, the figure in the room was Anastasia's mother, or rather used to be. The being still had Lady Tremaine's upper half, but her entire lower body was that of a huge, dark spider. Not only did she now have six eyes, but they were all pitch black, with no pupils or irises showing. Lady Tremaine was just finishing wrapping Cinderella in webbing, leaving just her head showing.

"Well, look who it is." Lady Tremaine laughed cruelly. "It's my turncoat daughter."

"Mother, what happened to you?" Anastasia asked.

"Just a short while ago, a nice man gave Drizella and I this black orb that lets us control those Heartless." Lady Tremaine explained. "We had to sacrifice our human forms to be able to do it, but it was worth it."

"Drizella is like this too?" Anastasia asked. "Where is she?"

Lady Tremaine chuckled. "Her heart was weaker than she thought. She gave in to the darkness and became a full Heartless." She replied. "In fact, I think you lot had a run-in with her in the hallway."

Anastasia's eyes snapped open in realization. "T-That beast was…"

"Drizella." Lady Tremaine replied with an evil smirk. "Looks like she failed to take care of you."

Anastasia found herself looking at her sword, memories of the previous battle running through her head. Not only had she willingly taken part in slaying what was left of her sister, but she had actually dealt the final blow.

"Anastasia, look out!" Hayner shouted.

Anastasia snapped her head up in time to see Lady Tremaine's human fist coming at her face. Anastasia was sent flying backwards into the wall. Cinderella screamed in fear, the webbing over her mouth muffling everything.

"Looks like I'll have to deal with this rat somewhere else." Lady Tremaine said as she picked the cocoon holding Cinderella up and jumped through one of the windows. Horace and Clarabelle rushed over to the broken window and looked out, seeing the spider-Tremaine scaling the wall with her new legs, taking Cinderella along for the ride.

"Can you get a shot in, Clarabelle?" Horace asked.

"The Princess of Heart is in the way." Clarabelle shook her head. "I'd never get it right."

"Looks like we have to go the long way." Horace concluded as he went back over to the door, where Hayner was helping a shaken Anastasia to her feet. "She's taken the princess to the roof."

"Do you know the way to the roof, Anastasia?" Hayner asked.

"I-I…I can't believe it…" Anastasia said quietly. "I killed my own sister…"

"Anastasia, she was a monster." Clarabelle replied. "That beast was not your sister. It was just what was left of her."

"And now that same thing is threatening your mother." Horace added. "Whatever she took from this stranger turned her into that monster out there and now she's going to kill the princess."

Anastasia clenched her fists. This would be the hardest thing she had ever done, but Cinderella didn't deserve any of the things that were happening to her.

"Let's go." Anastasia said. "I know the way to the staircase leading to the roof."

"We don't have much time." Hayner said. "We need to hurry."

Anastasia nodded, a shadow cast over her eyes. "Follow me." She said determinedly.

**(Roof)**

"This should be high enough." Lady Tremaine chuckled as she climbed up onto the roof and set the thrashing Cinderella down. "Now how should I get rid of you?" She pondered as she started thinking. "My new legs are razor sharp, but that would just be too quick for you."

Suddenly, an evil smirk floated across the transformed step-mother's face. "Maybe I should throw you off the side of the castle." She suggested. "I think that'll be the best way."

Cinderella's eyes widened as she started struggling even more.

"It's no use resisting, Cinderella." Lady Tremaine stated. "There's no way you're breaking free of that."

"Mother!"

The dark-haired spider-woman turned and saw the quartet of heroes running onto the roof through a doorway. Lady Tremaine snarled. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" She asked.

"Apparently we don't." Hayner said. "Just step away from the princess and no one needs to get hurt."

"Sounds like someone's afraid for his own safety." Lady Tremaine said with a smirk. "You may outnumber me, but I clearly out-power you."

"Stop it, mother!" Anastasia shouted. "This is your last chance! I'm not going to hesitate to fight you like this!"

"Good, because I wasn't going to show any mercy anyway." Lady Tremaine laughed as she crawled closer. "Okay, 'sister'. Let's have a fight. I'll show you how no ones betrays a Tremaine and gets away with it, not even family!"

"Here she comes!" Horace shouted as the half-spider approached.

**Boss Battle Start: Heartless Tremaine**

Lady Tremaine started the fight by thrusting two of her six spider legs forward, attempting to run someone through. Hayner quickly held up his Keyblade and blocked the blow, pushing the older woman backwards.

This provided an opening for Horace, thrusting his spear into the spider portion of the spider's body. Lady Tremaine roared in pain and stepped backwards.

"That hurt, you little fleabag!" Lady Tremaine snapped as she shoved her spider legs forward again, this time at Horace.

"I don't think so!" Clarabelle shouted as she cast Fire from a distance, sending an orb of embers into Lady Tremaine's side, bringing her out of her attack mode.

"Looks like I'll have to try a new mode of attack." Tremaine noted as she jumped up high and landed on one of the towers sticking out of the roof. Using her new spider abilities, Lasy Tremaine shot a ball of webbing down at Hayner.

Hayner acted quickly and cast Fire, making the fireball and ball of webbing strike each other in midair. The fireball easily burned through the webbing and continued flying straight into the older woman's face.

"You little brat!" Lady Tremaine shouted. "You're making me mad!"

With that, Lady Tremaine shot several balls of webbing out, scattering them all around the makeshift arena.

Anastasia jumped backwards to avoid getting hit with one of the web balls, but wasn't able to avoid the next one. The ball of webbing splattered into her face, instantly breaking up. Anastasia quickly wiped the small bit of webbing that had actually stuck to her face off and rushed forward.

"How are we going to get her down from there?" Anastasia asked as she skidded to a halt beside Horace. "Clarabelle and Hayner are the only ones that can actually attack her when she's up there because of their magic!"

Clarabelle suddenly saw that Lady Tremaine was holding onto the metal flagpole on the top of the tower to keep her balance. The cow smirked. "I think I have an idea!" She said as she flipped through the pages of her book. "THUNDER!"

Holding her hand into the air and pointing it at Lady Tremaine, Clarabelle caused several bolts of lightning to rain down from above, striking the metal pole the half-spider was holding onto. The electricity surged through the transformed woman, electrocuting her and making her let go of the metal flagpole, making her land on her back, where she struggled to get up.

"She's stunned!" Hayner shouted. "Come on! Let's get her!"

The four rushed Lady Tremaine and started attacking her while she was down. Even Clarabelle attacked several times with her book. After a few seconds, Lady Tremaine got to her feet and growled.

"So that's how it is, eh?" Lady Tremaine asked. "Striking a woman while she's down. Well, let me show you how I feel about that."

Lady Tremaine quickly laid on the ground and spun around, all six of her long spider legs outstretched. The attack took everyone by surprise, knocking all four of them off their feet.

Hayner landed on his back and opened his eye to see the transformed woman looming over him. The spider-woman pulled one of her razor-sharp spider legs into the air.

"You're extremely annoying." Lady Tremaine noted. "I'd say it's time for me to get rid of you."

"Don't you DARE, mother!" Anastasia shouted as she jumped onto her mother's spider back and attacked her with her sword.

Lady Tremaine roared in pain and shook Anastasia off of her. "You traitor!" She shouted. "How could you attack your own mother?"

"You're not my mother!" Anastasia shouted. "My mother died the instant that beast took over!"

"Well, if that's how you feel, it looks like I'll have to tear you apart as well." Lady Tremaine said as she rushed Anastasia and started attacking with her spider legs.

That's when Horace stepped in front of the redhead and shoved his spear out. Lady Tremaine ran straight into the weapon and backed away in pain.

Using her health-finding abilities, Clarabelle focused on Lady Tremaine. "We've almost got her! Just a little more and we'll have this one in the bag!" She called out.

"Let's end this, guys!" Hayner encouraged. "We can do it!"

"You actually think that I'm going to let you win?" Lady Tremaine snarled. "Don't count on it!"

Seeing Lady Tremaine stand on her two hind spider legs, Horace's eyes widened. "Everyone jump!" He shouted.

"What for?" Hayner asked.

Lady Tremaine slammed back down onto the roof of the castle, sending a hug web out of all directions, coating the roof of the castle. Horace and Anastasia were lucky enough to jump in time to avoid the attack, but Hayner and Clarabelle found themselves stuck to the roof.

"What the heck?" Hayner asked.

"Looks like we won't be able to attack physically for a bit." Clarabelle noted. "We'll have to rely on out magic."

"Fine with me." Hayner nodded as he and Clarabelle started attacking with Fire and Thunder magic. In the meantime, Horace and Anastasia, having avoided the web attack, were able to attack Lady Tremaine from close range.

"How can this be?" Lady Tremaine screamed in fury. "How can I lose to these-"

That was all she could get out before Horace stabbed her with his spear, destroying whatever health she had left.

"N-No! NO!" Lady Tremaine shrieked.

**Battle End**

Clutching her wound, Lady Tremaine staggered backwards, trying to regain her balance. However, she had unknowingly gotten too close to the edge of the roof and toppled over, screaming.

"Mother!" Anastasia shouted as she rushed over to the side of the roof and peered over.

However, instead of seeing Lady Tremaine falling towards the ground, she saw a heart rising from a cloud of purple and black smoke. The heart went several feet above the roof before vanishing from sight.

Finally, everything that had just happened sunk into Anastasia' mind. Dropping her sword, Anastasia collapsed in a sobbing heap.

After the huge web had vanished. Hayner rushed over to the trapped Cinderella and placed his Keyblade at her back. "Just hold still for a second, princess." He instructed. Activating his Fire spell, Hayner set Cinderella's web cocoon on fire, instantly reducing it to ashes and freeing the princess.

The instant she was free, Cinderella rushed over to Anastasia's side and got down beside her. "A-Anastasia?" She asked.

"I…I killed both of them…" Anastasia sobbed. "I…I'm alone."

"Anastasia, you're not alone. You still have me." Cinderella soothed as she wrapped her arms around her stepsister comfortingly. "You saved my life, Anastasia. I'll always be there for you as a hope of making it all up to you."

"You don't owe me anything, Cinderella." Anastasia insisted quietly as the two women got to their feet. "This was my way of making a few things up to you."

"Even still, I'm extremely thankful that you saved me, and I wasn't lying when I said I'd be there for you." Cinderella said. "Whenever you need help, just say the word and I'll help you."

"Thank you, Cinderella." Anastasia said, forcing a weak smile.

"So would you care to introduce me to your friends?"

"Of course." Anastasia nodded as she led her stepsister over to the trio of heroes. "Cinderella, this is Hayner, that's Horace, and that's Clarabelle."

"I am in your debt, everyone." Cinderella said, curtsying. "I've noticed that you're holding a Keyblade, Hayner. Are you trying to save all of the worlds like Sora?"

"More like helping him save all of the worlds." Hayner replied. "There were too many worlds in danger for him to handle alone this time, so the Keyblade chose me to give him a hand."

"Well, I'd say that you're well on your way to saving the worlds." Cinderella said.

"Uh…Cinderella?" Anastasia said. "There's something glowing underneath your dress."

Cinderella looked down and saw that there was indeed a small light emitted from underneath her dress. Lifting her floor-length dress up a bit, she saw that one of her slippers was glowing. The blonde princess raised an eyebrow as she took it off and held it in her hand.

Hayner suddenly saw that his Keyblade was glowing again. "Sweet! It's time to unlock another gate!" He said as he gripped his Keyblade with both hands.

Like with the first gate, everything around Hayner vanished, leaving the boy standing in the same mysterious void as before. A beam of light emitted from Cinderella's glass slipper, appearing in the void with Hayner. The beam of light exploded, creating a keyhole.

"Okay! Time to do this!" Hayner said as he lashed out his Keyblade, firing a beam of light through the huge keyhole. After hearing another locking sound, Hayner was blinded with a bright light.

When the light cleared, Hayner was back on the roof of Cinderella's castle, everyone around him.

"Success?" Horace asked.

"Success." Hayner nodded. "Looks like we need to get moving."

"Must you really go so soon?" Cinderella asked.

"More worlds are in danger." Hayner shrugged. "We need to keep moving if we want to save all of them."

"Well, I wish you luck." Cinderella nodded.

"Thank you so much for helping me save Cinderella." Anastasia added. "I never would have been able to do it myself."

"No problem." Horace assured.

"I wish there was a way I could repay you all."

"I'm sure we'll think of some way." Hayner shrugged. "But for now, we have to get moving."

"Take care, okay?" Cinderella asked.

"And good luck in your quest." Anastasia said with a smile. "If you do the same thing in the other worlds as you did here, you'll be fine."

"Thanks a lot. We'll be seeing you guys later." Hayner assured.

With that, Hayner, Horace and Clarabelle left the castle and worked their way back to their Gummi Ship to go onto the next world.


	7. Atlantis Part 1

**(Ancient City; Cliff)**

A tall, burly man stood on a rocky ledge overlooking an ancient city bustling with life. The tall figure dug a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it up as he gazed out at the city, basking in its majesty and beauty, although his mind was elsewhere.

Suddenly, a smaller, younger, lanky man with red hair and glasses came up to him from behind with some notes. "Mister Rourke! You gotta see these things!" He said.

The man, identified as Rourke, looked over his shoulder. "Is it more on their technology, Milo?" He asked.

Milo nodded excitedly. "I still can't believe that the people down here have such advanced technology!" He said. "They've been under the sea for thousands of years and they still have technology far more-advanced than we could even HOPE for, yet!"

Rourke chuckled. "Thatch, my boy. That's not what interests me." He explained. "You sure that none of the people know anything?"

Milo scratched his head. "I've talked to everyone and they don't even know what it is we're looking for." He explained. "I mean, I want to believe that the energy source exists down here, but the fact that no one seems to know anything, I'm starting to have my doubts."

"Thatch, what we're looking for is here." Rourke said. "Either they aren't telling us or they really don't know it exists."

"Mister Rourke, they haven't seen people like us in thousands of years!" Milo insisted. "They were so excited and welcoming to us! I don't see why they would hide something like that!"

"Just call it instinct." Rourke said with a smirk. "It's here. We just need to look harder. Look, that princess this kingdom has seems to have taken a liking to you. Why don't you try and ask her?"

Milo's eyes widened. "But…But that would be taking advantage of the trust that she has for me!" He said.

"Thatch, this mission is important. The mission's cost a lot of money and a lot of people are going to be VERY disappointed if we come back empty handed."

Milo fumbled for words for a few moments before finally relenting and walking away, leaving Rourke alone again.

Rourke exhaled a long puff of smoke and gave a dark smirk.

**(Cave Mouth)**

Hayner wandered through a dark cave, Horace and Clarabelle following him. It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, they were able to wander around normally.

"Man. You sure the Gummi Ship sent us to the right spot?" Hayner asked.

"No doubt about it. We're on the right world." Clarabelle insisted. "We just must have miscalculated."

"Look over there. There's some light." Horace pointed out. "That has to be the exit of the cave."

The trio walked towards the light and found themselves walking onto a grassy Cliffside. The three looked around in amazement at the sight. They saw an ancient city surrounded with a large body of water, an old bridge connecting the city to the cliff they were standing on. Looking around, they saw that the city had a sky, but it looked almost like a rock ceiling.

"What IS this place?" Hayner asked.

"Whatever it is, it violates all forms of physics." Clarabelle said, flipping through her book. "How can a city be underground, but still have a bright sky?"

"Uh…More importantly, how do you explain THAT?" Horace asked, pointing down the cliff.

Hayner and Clarabelle glanced down the cliff and their eyes widened, seeing several Neo-Shadows clambering down towards the city.

"Heartless!" Hayner said.

"They're heading towards the city!" Clarabelle said.

"A city like that is bound to be filled with people!" Horace said. "We need to destroy those Heartless!"

Neither of the others argued with Horace and they all raced down the path of the cliff to meet the Heartless. They ran down the path, not losing any momentum, and even jumped from one level to the next in an attempt to save precious time.

Hayner was the first to reach the shadow beings and lashed out with his Keyblade, easily cutting through a couple of the Neo-Shadows. Horace used his spear, blocking slashes from Neo-Shadows and stabbing them through with one blow. Some of the Heartless tried to flee, but Clarabelle was quick to pick them off with some Lightning magic, destroying them before they got too close to the city.

Hayner blinked. "I'm sorta curious as to why we raced down the cliff to begin with when Clarabelle could have easily destroyed them all from up there." He pointed out.

"Don't even think about it." Clarabelle said. "I don't work well under stress."

"I can vouch for that." Horace shrugged.

"Well, I guess the main thing is that we got the Heartless before they reached the city." Hayner said. "You guys want to check it out?"

"We probably should. Heartless may be infesting the city for all we know." Clarabelle nodded.

Keeping their weapons drawn, the trio ran into the city in an attempt to search for Heartless. They stopped a few feet after stepping through the entrance gates when they saw that it was a lively city with people (dressed in ancient tribal garb) walking around to do their daily routines.

"Look at this place." Hayner said. "These people look like they're living in the past."

"For all we know, they could be." Horace pointed out. "Time in some of the worlds move differently."

"So…This whole world could be taking place in a time period that's already gone by in other worlds?"

"Pretty much covers it."

"Hey! Who're you?"

The trio turned in the direction of the new voice and saw a scrawny man with glasses coming over, with a white-haired woman dressed like the people of the city following him.

"You weren't with us on the ship." The man said suspiciously. "Who are you and how did you get here?"

"Uh…Would you believe us if we said we didn't know where 'here' is?" Hayner asked.

The man's eyes widened. "Huh? You somehow got here and you don't even know where you are?" He asked. "That's…That's scientifically impossible!"

"Milo, perhaps they've lost their memory." The woman said, stepping forward and clearing her throat. "You are in the city of Atlantis."

Hayner's eyes bugged out. "Atlantis?" He asked. "But…I heard that place sunk under the ocean centuries ago!"

The woman chuckled. "Where do you think you are, now?" She quizzed.

Horace looked around confusedly. "We're…Underwater?" He asked. "But…How?"

"I wondered that same thing when I first got here." Milo laughed. "So…Now then, who are you guys?"

"Um…Hayner."

"Horace Horsecollar."

"Clarabelle Cow."

"Pleased to meet you. Milo Thatch." Milo nodded. "This is Kida. She's the princess of Atlantis."

Hearing the word princess, Horace glanced at Clarabelle. Somehow knowing what he was wondering, Clarabelle flipped through the pages of her book, looked at Horace and shook her head.

"It's not often we see people from the surface." Kida said. "In fact, Milo's group was the first we had ever seen."

"Group?" Horace asked. "There are more people here?"

"A small group, but a group nonetheless." Kida assured.

"So what brings you guys here?" Milo asked. "You hear about this energy source as well?"

"Uh…What?" Hayner asked before regaining his composure. "No. We're actually on a hunt."

"Has anyone here seen any black creatures with glowing eyes?" Horace asked. "They're Heartless, a race of creatures that preys on people's hearts."

Milo did a double-take. "Wait. What?"

"It's a long story that you're probably better off not hearing." Horace assured. "Let me just say that these things are dangerous and should be killed as soon as you see any."

Kida blinked. "These…Heartless…Do they resemble a form of large insect?" She asked.

"Most common forms of Heartless resemble insects, yes." Clarabelle nodded. "But they can take a form of almost anything if their skillset required it."

"Like…Dragons?"

The cow shrugged. "It's possible. We haven't seen many dragon Heartless, but they can take any form that suits their needs." She said. "Why do you ask?"

"Because there are some right behind you." Kida pointed out simply.

The trio quickly spun around, drawing their weapons again. They indeed saw a group of several Heartless rapidly rushing them, consisting of some common Shadows, a few Soldiers and a new type of Heartless that looked like a small dragon.

A Shadow leapt at Hayner, but her quickly and easily cut it down. "You two get out of here and find somewhere to hide!" He directed.

"When you finish here, meet us at the palace." Kida instructed. "We'll continue where we left off."

With that, Milo and Kida rushed off, leaving the trio to face the new threat alone. One of the new Dragon Heartless rushed Horace, attempting a bite. Horace quickly held up his spear and caught the Dragon with it.

"Let go of my spear, you toothy freak!" Horace shouted as he spun his spear, throwing the Dragon into the air and giving Horace the chance the stab it in midair.

Hayner swung his Keyblade rapidly, destroying a few of the Shadows and damaging a Dragon. Suddenly seeing a Soldier jumping him from the corner of his eye, Hayner spun in place and slashed, striking the Soldier in the face and destroying it instantly. The Dragon he had previously damaged tried to attack Hayner again, but Hayner held out his Keyblade and caused the Dragon to bite down on it.

Hayner smirked. "Eat this." He said as he activated his Fire Spell and shot a ball of ember straight into the Dragon's mouth, causing it to burst instantly.

Horace swung his spear and slashed a few of the Soldiers at once. A Shadow tried to attack him from the side while he was distracted. He didn't have the time to stab the Shadow, so Horace simply kicked it away, sending it towards Clarabelle.

Clarabelle smashed her book across a Soldier's face before casting a Magnet Spell. Several Heartless were pulled into the middle of an orb that had appeared out of nowhere, allowing Clarabelle to strike and destroy a few before they could break free of the gravity pull. By the time the Heartless were able to pull away from the spell, it was just a Dragon and a couple of Shadows remaining. Clarabelle wasted no time in destroying the Shadows with the book before turning her attention to the Dragon.

Hayner slashed at another Dragon, wiping out its health and destroying it. He quickly looked around to see how many more of the Heartless were left and saw only a few remaining. All of the small Heartless had been wiped out, and the only ones remaining were the one Dragon Clarabelle was fighting and the two that Horace was trying to take care of.

Feeling that Horace needed help more, Hayner rushed over and slashed the back of one of the Dragons.

"You already destroy the others?" Horace asked.

"Yeah. It's just these two and the one Clarabelle is fighting that are left." Hayner nodded.

"Okay. Let's take care of them so we can go catch up with the others."

Hayner nodded and leapt at one of the Dragons, avoiding an attempted bite. Hayner quickly brought his Kayblade down on the Dragon's head, causing it to roar in pain. Hayner proceeded to finish the Dragon off by slashing it hard in the torso, killing it. At the same time, Horace had managed to stab the other Dragon all the way through, destroying it instantly. Their job done, the two looked at each other.

"Is that all of them?" Horace asked.

"If Clarabelle managed to finish off the third one." Hayner shrugged.

The two saw that Clarabelle had indeed finished fighting the third Dragon, using a Thunder Spell to finish it off. All of the Heartless in the area had now been destroyed.

"Well, that's that." Horace nodded. "We should probably go see if we can meet up with Milo and Kida."

"That reminds me. What were you looking up in your book earlier, Clarabelle?" Hayner asked.

"Kida said that she was a princess. I went through the book to see if she was a Princess of Heart, but the book holds no record of her." Clarabelle shrugged.

"Well, it IS Atlantis." Hayner shrugged. "NO ONE knew this place still existed."

"Apparently, someone found it first." Horace said as the trio walked through the city. "Kida said that Milo was an outsider and came with a group."

"An expedition to find Atlantis, I'm guessing." Hayner shrugged.

The trio, after getting some directions from the locales, made it to a large building that looked like an ancient palace. Going inside, they saw Milo and Kida talking with a small group of people, obviously Milo's group.

Milo turned and saw them come in. "Oh! There you guys are!" He said.

"Yeah. We got a little lost." Hayner rubbed his head.

"Well, this is my expedition group. We came searching out Atlantis and we ended up finding it." Milo said, directing attention towards a tall, bald man with dark skin. "That's Dr. Sweet, our medical expert." He said.

"Heh. From what Milo told us, you've got a lotta spunk, kid." The doctor said with a smirk.

A young girl stepped forward, eyeing Hayner. "Hmm…Not bad." She said.

"Uh…What?" Hayner asked nervously.

"Oh, nothing." The girl shrugged. "I'm Audrey, head of mechanics."

"Aren't you a little young for that?" Horace asked. He was ignored.

A tall, middle-aged man with a mustache, towering over Hayner, crouched low to get a better look at him. "This kid fought off those weird monsters?" He asked.

"That's him, Vinnie." Mio nodded. "We didn't see them in action, but if they could make it this far fighting the monsters, I'd trust them."

The tall man shrugged. "Yeah. You gotta point." He admitted. "The name's Vinnie. I'm the demolition man."

A short, stout and comical-looking man eagerly stepped forward and shook Horace's hand. "Wow! We finally have a way to get through the monsters!" He said. "I am SO excited!"

"Uh…That's Mole, our digging expert." Dr. Sweet said as he pried the short man off of Horace. "Sorry about that. We've been stuck here for a while doing nothing…And you may wanna wash that hand…In bleach."

A tall, proud man stepped forward, standing taller than the others. "Call me Rourke. I'm the leader of the expedition here." He said. "Tell me…You wouldn't happen to be here looking for something, would you?"

"Um…Nope. We're just here to check out the Heartless invasion." Hayner shrugged. "But…You guys didn't happen to see some dark portals around here, did you?"

"We can't really help you there. We haven't been here long." Vinnie shrugged. "Why? You looking for someone?"

"A couple of my friends were kidnapped through a dark portal and they could have ended up anywhere." Hayner sighed.

"Wait…" All eyes had turned to Kida. "There have been dark activities in the sacred part of the city. Those things you call 'Heartless' may be spawning there."

"Then we need to get there and take care of the problem!" Hayner said. "There may be some clues there!"

"I'll go with you." Kida said and she went over to a corner and picked up a mystical spear. "I'll take you to the sacred area where our ancestors rest. That's where the dark activities are." Rourke seemed a little more-interested at Kida's comment. He paused in thought as Kida continued. "If you can take care of the monsters there, we'll be able to carry one with our lives."

"If we can clear out the Heartless, we'll be good. That's what we're here for, anyway." Hayner nodded.

"Plus, it's good to have a new world to include in the log." Clarabelle said as she wrote a few notes down on her book.

"You'd better lead the way, Kida." Hayner said. "You know the way."

Kida nodded and led the trio out of the palace. Milo quickly went after them. "Hold up! I'll go with you!" He called out.

Once they were all gone, Rourke turned to look at the other members of his crew. "This is perfect. They could clear out those monsters and then that'll give us the chance to take the treasure here." He explained.

Dr. Sweet paused. "Wait, what? Are you still up on that?" He asked.

"We've come this far! Have you forgotten why we came here in the first place?"

"There are PEOPLE here, Rourke." Sweet folded his arms. "Taking whatever they have will leave them with nothing."

"That's not the point! We're inches away from the biggest paycheck in history and you choose NOW to grow a conscience?"

"We did a lot of things we weren't proud of, Rourke." Vinnie stepped in. "Robbing graves…Plundering tombs…Uh…Double-parking…But it never affected anyone."

"We found Atlantis, Rourke. Who in the right mind could actually say that they found Atlantis?" Audrey added. "That will be enough to put our names in the history books."

"So you're trusting Thatch over me." Rourke narrowed his eyes.

"If it weren't for the kid, we never woulda found this place at all." Vinnie shook his head. "We've all grown attached to him."

"The people here trust Milo, Rourke." Sweet said. "After everything he's done for us, I'm not about to turn my back on him and take the energy source of his life's work."

Vinnie and Audrey nodded. Mole remained silent, but folded his arms and gave Rourke a cold stare, something he certainly didn't show a lot of.

Rourke snarled. "Fine. You want to help the weasel, then be my guest." He said. "I'll find the treasure take it and get out of here myself, and the rest of you can rot down here with Thatch."

With that, Rourke stormed out, leaving his crew behind.

Vinnie quickly looked at the others. "We gotta go and warn the others about this." He said.

Mole nodded. "I'll sniff zhem out!" He said. "Zhe princess has the odour of Atlantis all over her, so I shall find zhem quick!"

Audrey looked to the side. "I sure hope we can help that Hayner kid." She said.

"Looks like someone got a little crush." Sweet teased. Audrey blushed and looked away.

"Come on, people! We gotta move!" Vinnie urged.

**(Atlantis Borders)**

Rourke stormed out of Atlantis on his own, gazing out in the direction Milo and Kida had taken the others. If he hurried, he'd be able to catch up to them and take care of them after they destroyed those Heartless.

"Those fools. After all that we planned, they decide to go back on what we were going to do." Rourke said. "If I can get to Thatch before they can, I may still have a chance."

As much as Rourke didn't want to admit it, this would be hard. Just getting to the sacred area of Atlantis was a group effort. Getting there on his own would not only take a lot out of him, but give the others a huge chance to get there first since they were in a group.

"I need some leverage." Rourke said. "I need a way to outsmart everyone and get there first."

"Seems that you're a little down on your luck." A raspy voice said with a chuckle.

Rourke spun around and drew his pistol, pointing in at the owner of the voice.

The figure chuckled again. "Such a primitive weapon. Never seen a working one that actually USES gunpowder." He noted.

"Who are you?" Rourke asked as he kept his gun trained on the figure. "You aren't part of my crew and you certainly don't look like a citizen of Atlantis."

"That's not important." The figure shook his head. "What IS important is that I can give you help."

Rourke was silent for a few seconds before lowering his weapon slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I understand that you're looking for treasure here."

"How…How did you know that?" Rourke asked.

"I'm familiar with Atlantis and I figure that's why you're here." The figure said. "Now…I take it that your crew abandoned the idea?"

"There are people down here and they don't feel right taking something so powerful and valuable from a living community." Rourke said. "They've grown soft thanks to that boy that brought us here."

"Like I said, I have a solution."

"What do you mean?"

"I can give you some extra power and a small army of troops and you'll be able to get to your treasure." The figure replied. "You'll be able to get it and get out all by yourself and without having to rely on anyone else."

"There has to be a catch." Rourke said, eyes narrowed. "What do you want in return?"

"Nothing escapes you, does it?" The figured chuckled, his rasp evident. "There is indeed something I want, but it'll be easy for you to get."

Rourke went through a few thoughts in his mind before nodding. "Okay. I'm listening."

The figure smirked. "Perfect."


End file.
